


The Sight of the Sun

by carriewilsons (badgerspride)



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, M/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn, just the gays being on their bullshit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 42,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29646081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badgerspride/pseuds/carriewilsons
Summary: A year after her mothers death, Julie has been fine… okay, just surviving it. When her best friend, Flynn forces her to sing during an open mic night, down and out musician, Luke Patterson overhears her and tries to get her to join his on-the-verge of going nowhere band, Sunset Curve. {au. the boys are not ghosts. juke/willex/flarrie}
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Carrie Wilson, Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Julie Molina/Nick, Kayla/Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Nick/Carrie Wilson
Comments: 105
Kudos: 107





	1. i.

**i.**

****

* * *

**June 2020**

“Fuck!” Luke swore, picking up a glass and throwing it at the wall causing Reggie to flinch and Alex to grab his hand.

It wasn’t in their guitarist’s nature to be this way. Luke Patterson was a puppy at best. His angry face was laughable normally, but now it radiated on Aries fury that not even Alex, who despite his anxiety, usually approached his friends issues with levelheaded precision, wanted to tackle. For a lack of a better metaphor, the boys were at a Mexican standstill in this moment, but also in the moment that sparked this rage.

“Look, Bobby’s a prick. It was only a matter of time before he walked,” Alex gave a minor attempt that seemedto add gasoline on Luke’s rage.

What can we say? The man was as loyal as he was passionate, and Bobby’s disregard for both those traits enraged him even more.

“He’s a sellout!” Luke snarled as he threw another glass, this one shattered more with a satisfying shatter that made both Alex and Reggie jump and move back a bit more, gripping their hands together harder. Clearly, to Luke, _‘sell out’_ was the worst insult to be given to anyone, but especially a musician.

“How could he fucking do that _to us_?!” he roared with such raw anger and resentment, unable to look at his boys as he clenched his jaw, tears biting his eyes.

Now, to set the record straight: Luke Patterson was _not_ ashamed to cry. Sure, he didn’t like crying because it was awkward to deal with the aftermath of being that emotional and vulnerable, but Alex and Reggie were his family. He had held both of them when they’d cried, comforted them - they were family. He did, however, clench his fists at his sides to hold back punching a hole through their wall. An act that would surely feel satisfying in the moment, but was ultimately an unnecessary violence that could break his hand, putting them more in the shitter than they already were, but also lose them the security deposite - and at this point, again, putting them more in the shitter than they already were.

No matter how tempting that sweet release of anger on Bobby’s betrayal might be, he would never risk whatever stability Sunset Curve had left to their name, Aries or not.

“The Jolly Rogers,” Alex scoffed in disgust as he ran a hand through his blonde hair.

Luke began to angrily pace as he replayed the evens over and over in his mind.

Their set had been tight - the best they’d ever sounded, and as they loaded up the shitty van they had bought, Bobby had lit a cigarette, which had pissed Luke off, but he’d long since learned to live with his friend’s disgusting habit.

Sitting on the ledge of the van, he looked at the tip of his cigarette, holding it vertical to make it burn more. It was a habit that made sense to no one, but the telltale sign of Bobby gathering his thoughts, so the boys waited patiently for him to hold the filter correctly and flick the ash to the pavement.

“Collin talked to me yesterday,” he began and the boys all tensed.

Collin Shaw was the lead singer of The Jolly Rogers, a local band with much more notoriety than Sunset Curve. They had played _The Orpheum_ more than once, and their songs Pink Silk and Moonbeam Goddess had made it to number one and six on LA’s Top 100 (the local radio station), respectively. They were older. They’d been in the game for four years, and Sunset Curve had recently been able to take off due to the boys being of age. It was hard getting adults to take you seriously when you had an algebra test and were only sixteen, but those were excuses. The Jolly Rogers were what you aspired to be and dreamt of surpassing. At least, that’s what Luke did.

Their second guitarist had recently walked, and while no one knew why, it was obvious why Collin had wanted to talk to Bobby. Not Luke or Reggie (Luke was the guitarist, and while Reggie was the bassist, he could play the guitar - hell, he owned fucking guitar solos a lot better than fucking Bobby ever could!), but Bobby.

While the boys never treated Bobby like an outlier, Bobby had always acted too good, too grown to the brotherhood that was Sunset Curve. Bobby was a year older, he had a stable life - he didn’t need them the way that Luke, Alex, and Reggie needed one another; Luke supposed he resented that now as he thought back on Bobby and his fucking cigarette, and the way he wouldn’t look at them. The fucking coward, with his fucking suspenders and Sid Vicious wannabe ass.

This was the ultimate slap in the face to Sunset Curve, to say the very least.

No one had said a single thing. The boys stared at Bobby who was interested in his cigarette again, and their silence dared him to look up and say it to their faces, like someone with a shred of integrity to his name. If Bobby had any sense of decency, he’d look each boy in the eye and recognize that it was _them_ who had given him the pleasure to join an already successful band. It was their hardwork and determination that got them dingy LA clubs and their music that got people looking at their Spotify and their fire and spirit that made them never give up, even if they played shitty piers that didn’t tip anything at all. Not Bobby’s.

Maybe it was petty - okay! _Yes_ , it _was_ petty, but Luke was an Aries, dammit and that zodiac is petty as hell!

Again, it was petty, but Luke thought then in the apartment, just as he had in that parking lot looking at Bobby holding that stupid fucking cigarette, that Sunset Curve had technically lost dead weight.

Bobby was good at his job, but that was it. There was nothing wrong with this, but now Luke found fault in it.

Sure, Luke wrote the majority of songs (okay, a solid 99.9%), but Alex had written two songs, but _always_ wrote the music for his bit - no one had ever dictated to what or how Alex played, because the boy had a sixth sense for drumming. To Alex Mercer, drumming was an artform. Roger Taylor of Queen hadn’t (thankfully and hopefully never will) died, but dammit if he didn’t embody the way Roger played drums. Reggie wrote songs - most, Luke sardonically wondered from time to time wasn’t intentionally written to piss him off (like c’mon, country?!), but he always wrote melodies and sometimes lyrics with Luke.

That didn’t exist with Bobby, and if Luke hadn’t felt the metaphorical spit in his eye, he would’ve never said it aloud or even thought it, but Bobby was an average guy who happened to befriend talented people at the right place and the right time.

Again, how pompous! How arrogant! My god, people, he’s an Aries, keep up!

Bobby’s one - and at this point, as far as Luke could see when he looked back on the friendship in this jaded moment - and only redeeming quality he brought to the band was his parents garage. Not talent, or creative input, but the place they fucking rehearsed at!

Just the thought made Luke want to sweep his hand across their sad excuse for a table (that was actually an airhockey machine they found at Goodwill when moving in, and it turned out to be broken so was now their sad excuse for a table) and break every dirty dish and glass that was balanced upon it, but somehow held it together.

“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Luke demanded, pacing and tugging at his hair. “We’re already strapped for cash - we’re fucked!”

Alex sighed and Reggie took his hand back to run it down his tired face.

“For now, we’ll have to improvise. Play here quietly, save up,” Alex said meekly, not even believing what he was saying. They couldn’t play _here_! That’s why Bobby had been such an asset to them, despite everything.

The boys had left home before graduating. Alex had been the first. He didn’t so much leave, as he was tossed out into the street with his baby sister, Olivia, crying and screaming as his father shoved him out the door and throwing whatever it was of Alex’s he could reach. Jane, his eldest sister, had tried to stop her father, but her mother had held her back, saying it wasn’t her place.

Luke had runaway. In fact, they’d seen his missing person poster when they’d gotten street dogs a few weeks back, and Luke had crumpled it up angrily and shoved it into his pocket, his cheeks burning in either shame or anger.

Reggie kind of came along for the ride. His older brother, Seamus, lived in Seattle in his own music scene, and his sister, Tillie, had already graduated and moved into UCLA, and living with his parents fighting alone was far too much than the young bassist could handle.

Like Bobby, the flat had one single redeeming quality: it was cheap.

It had barely three rooms. A bedroom the boys shared; Alex on a bottom bunk, Luke on top and Reggie on a futon. The living room hardly existed with the not-table and a crappy, tattered couch and an old tv they’d managed to nick from Reggie’s garage that worked… barely, but at least they could play videogames on it. But sound proof? Hardly. Luke was sure neighbor’s could hear them piss without straining their ears, the walls were so paper thin.

“Yeah, pray the beach starts bringing us the tips,” Reggie said bitterly as he sat upon the couch, laying his face on the arm rest and Luke groaned.

“Listen,” Alex said with a sigh, removing the darts from the board and throwing one, “we just have to think of this as a minor set back. We’re going to find a way.”

There was an unspoken “we have to” that hung between them, but no one verbally dared to vocalize it.

Luke nodded, pounding his fist into his hand with determination. “We don’t need Bobby. Boys, we got this, it’s just a minor set back,” he agreed.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

**March 2021**

“Yo, Patterson! Did you get that cable Jermaine asked you to get?” asked Leo, a man with a long red beard and scraggly red hair, who was talking around the cigarette in his mouth. Gross.

Luke, who had as much tolerance for Leo as he did for country music, felt his shoulders unconsciously tense and with a voice, more clipped than his usual tone said, “Yeah, here,” and handed it to him.

He heard Leo mumble something about Luke being a “fucking smartass”, but Luke didn’t care. He was valuable to the team of Eats & Beats, and Leo knows that for damn sure.

“You’re on sound duty, so move your ass to the stage, don’t fucking wait till the last minute,” Leo snapped needlessly, as if that hadn’t been were Luke was going with said cable when Leo interrupted him, but Luke just gave him a dirty look and Leo mumbled about how he was a prick.

Ah, the beauty of minimum wage.

Though Luke could begrudgingly admit it could be worst - he could be the fucking waiter, and to that he’d rather eat his hands and never be able to play guitar again than do that. Not to sound too dramatic, but the one time junior year he’d been a waiter and hated every second of his life for that shit, before he went on lunch and never came back. Now that, guys gals and nonbinary pals, was really sticking it to the man!

But here Luke was, no time for gigs, Alex in school and Reggie was either being an uber driver or a dog walker, depending on the hour.

In conclusion, at the moment, life sucked.

Sunset Curve hadn’t had a gig in more than six months, meanwhile The Jolly Roger still played The Orpheum, which made Luke want to punch Bobby in the jaw over, and had three more hits on LA’s Top 100.

Life was also very unfair was another conclusion he made as he checked the sound system and read through the list. It was standard open mic night bullshit. A few bands, some he recognized, and three solo performers, and a girl group he knew well.

While Luke neither liked Carrie Wilson or her group, Dirty Candi, for some reason, Alex did. The Alex and Carrie friendship was another knife to the back, but more on his sanity than his pride.

Sighing, he signaled the all clear and the lights dimmed and Kenny, the owner, took the stage to announce the first group, Watermelon Crush. They were decent. They were a high school band and had a lot to learn, but Luke clapped with the rest of the supportive audience as their song ended and Carrie came up to him.

Carrie Wilson was undeniably pretty. Not Luke’s type, but she was cute. He’d seen her sans pink wig and costume, but when she was Dirty Candi, she was fucking insufferable to him. “Don’t start until I lift my glasses and the girls are on stage this time, thanks,” she said cooly to him, then turned her nose up, put her pink sunglasses on and walked on stage.

Luke fumed. The actual fucking nerve!

Someone laughed and he turned, eyes narrowing at a dark skinned black girl with braids and a rainbow printed crop top. “That’s Carrie for you,” she quirked as he hit play, making Carrie’s queue - not that she’d thank him.

“Friend of yours?” Luke said.

“Former friend,” the girl said before moving closer. She looked guilty, and Luke was dreading what she was going to say. He begged it wasn’t the washrooms, _again_ , but always expect the worst when working in a bar with open mic night and producers in the audience. “My current friend, however, is singing tonight. Julie. Julie Molina,” she clarified and Luke nodded, briefly remembering the name on the list because whoever wrote it had dotted the i’s with little hearts that he found kind of endearing.

“What about her?” he asked, raising a brow.

The girl forced a smile. “Listen, it’s been a while since she… well, since she’s done this. She’s not going to make a fool of herself, she’s amazing -“

Of course she is, Luke thought sardonically, repressing an eye roll. People, he was the glorified AV kid from movies bullies gave swirlies too, not Miley Cyrus’s record label!

“I’m not worried about the crowd, just her confidence. If she doesn’t… well, if she hesitates, can you kind of give her another go. She just… she really needs this.”

And maybe it was this desperate way that this petite girl was talking about someone she clearly cared about, or the way she was wringing her hands and trying to keep her composure, but Luke found himself nodding. “Yeah. Sure. Tell her to come back here, Carrie’ll be wrapping in a few minutes,” he said.

Luke watched a bit more of Carrie, begrudgingly agreeing with the mental voice of Alex that _yes_ , okay, fine, she was talented! And then, he saw her.

Her hair was pulled back, but still big and curly like a cloud, she wore a blue dress and a vest, and she had on combat boots, and Luke felt something inside him tug, but he batted it away.

“Flynn, just stop it!” she was hissing to the girl with the braids, who looked more anxious than ever, “I can’t do this! I just want to come home!”

“But you’ve come all this way, you’re dressed! Please, Jules! I pulled a lot of strings for you, please! You can’t just give up music!”

Luke’s ears perked. Give up music? What the hell did that mean?

Lord, he could be so freaking nosy, I swear!

“What if I did! Is that the worst thing to happen?”

Flynn looked taken aback, she even had to physically step away from Julie and she looked like she wanted to cry. “Julie - yes! Yes it would!”

Julie scoffed, but Luke could tell it was more from stubbornness by the look on her face he caught and she said, “Without… I just - Flynn, I know you and my dad and Carlos, and Tia and Professor Harrison think it’s still inside me, but it’s not.”

Luke cleared his throat, nearly stumbling backwards when both girls looked at him, Julie with a rage he’d associate with his Aries fueled one that June night, but trucked on somehow. “I don’t want to interrupt, but they’re about to finish and -“

“She’s singing!” Flynn said with surprising conviction for a tiny girl on the verge of tears, but who was Luke to judge. Turning back to Julie she said, “If you love me, you’ll do this for me, if not for yourself.”

That made Julie’s jaw clench and Flynn handed over the song. It wasn’t an original, which thankfully open mic night demanded, but Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac, which for some reason surprised him, but he nodded and they watched Carrie finish, politely clapped and Dirty Candi exited the stage via the front, and Jermaine set up a keyboard, then Kenny announced Julie.

For a moment, Julie stood there, her face going pale and Flynn nudge her, making the taller girl stumble and enter the stage by nearly falling face first, but somehow she caught herself and gave an awkward girl as she moved to the keyboard.

Flynn’s hands were clasped tight, and Luke recognized that she was praying to something or someone, and he waited as Julie’s fingers hesitated and she looked skyward, and even from where Luke stood, he wondered if the look on her face meant she was going to cry, but then she looked at him, the keys and she began to play as he hit play.

The version she gave him wasn’t Fleetwood Mac. It was entirely original, and a new take on an old song that Julie must’ve composed at some point, but her keyboard fit in beautifully and Luke didn’t know if what tapped him was fate or an angel, but Luke had a feeling that of all the gin joints and all the world Julie Molina with her i’s dotted with hearts and will to give up music and create the most heartbreaking sounds of raw passion and beauty, didn’t stumble in by accident.

This was fate.

No, this was the break he and Sunset Curve needed.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** First off, I want to dedicate this to Halle, because I love her and her talking to me about this show really set the gears in motion. I also want to dedicate this to my other best friend, Terri, who I keep telling I want to write a JATP fic to and her love of the show and her tik toks and post sharing keeps me going in this dark time (like c'mon Netflix, give us season two or give me merciful death).

Everyone is college aged; Bobby is 20, going on 21 - he is not related to Carrie in anyway. In this AU, Trevor Wilson is not Bobby - I don’t know if it’s weird, but folks it’s what it is. Luke, Alex and Reggie are 19; Julie, Flynn and Co from the show are 18, and Carlos is 12.

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own JATP, obviously. I don’t know how “original” this idea is, but I got it in my head and it won’t leave. That being said, the use of the band _‘The Jolly Rogers’_ is based on Captain Hook’s ship from JM Barrie’s Peter and the Pan, and a homage to one of my favorite characters, Harry Hook, who is also of Kenny Ortega’s intellectual property and not mine - obviously.

_Silver Spring_ was written by Stevie Nicks and released in 1977 on Fleetwood Mac’s album, _Rumors_. Halle will understand why it’s here, and she’s is 100% correct. Also, Luke is an Aries and as an Aries is this me stating my dominance? That’s 100% up to your interpretation. Like I said, we are petty.

Also, the title, _The Sight of the Sun_ is from the song by F.U.N. Again, obviously but listen to it - revisit, it's a good song!


	2. ii.

**ii.**

**March 2021**

* * *

Julie Molina _did not_ under _any_ circumstances want to go on that stage.

Flynn had come over, begging in front of her dad and Carlos, talking about how she’d signed Julie up for Eats & Beats.

“Eats & Beats!” Carlos had practically shouted, his brown eyes wide as he stared between Flynn and Julie with awe. “Julie, you have to do this!” he said, grabbing her arm, “the place always has producers, and you could meet celebrities, like Jay Z!”

Julie had scoffed, shoving her little brother off. “There are going to be no producers or Jay Z,” she said as she turned to Flynn, “because I’m not going!”

Julie was aware that at the moment she sounded like a brat, but maybe that’s what was needed to get her point across. She and music, it was over. It had died with her mother, and just like Rose, Julie couldn’t bring the love she once had back.

Once upon a time, Julie’s whole world had revolved around music. She’d collect lyrics in her journal, or scraps of paper she’d shove into her dream box, and create song after song on her piano. Rose would sit beside her, help and coax the best versions of Julie’s songs, and she couldn’t imagine doing anything else in life.

For most kids, being a musician was a pipe dream. Sure, parents would let kids audition on those TV shows where they’d either fail at the jump or further down the line, but Julie Molina never doubted she’d be the one.

Julie was a practical girl. Some would say she was far too practical, especially as young as she’d been when she decided that she _would_ be a musician.

At age five, her front teeth missing and her glasses were a bit too big for her face, Julie had stomped into the kitchen with her Maryjane covered feet, crossed her arms and declared to her mother, who was cooking at the stove, and her father who was working at the table, that she was going to be a singer.

Her mother had always laughed when she retold the story, and while Julie, herself, didn’t remember it, she’d heard it so much that her mother’s memory had become her own.

Julie wished she could hold onto that confidence. I mean, it wasn’t like Julie lacked the confidence - no. She knew she could sing. Heck, she was a damn good singer, thank you very much! But while four year old Julie knew that musician was just around the corner, eighteen year old Julie knew that without her mother, music left her feeling hollow.

Sure, she still attended her music classes, she wasn’t stupid. UCLA was expensive! She had worked hard to get her spot, but what was the point? Everyone kept saying her mother was with her, and once she got past the pain she’d be able to perform again, but it was, for the lack of a better word, bullshit.

“Mija,” Ray said gently, touching his daughter’s shoulder gently, and while she wasn’t looking at him, she could see that soft look of understanding he’d get.

Ray Molina wasn’t a perfect father, he’d be the first one to admit that. But dear reader, despite the leftover spaghetti all but two nights a week (when it’d be first day spaghetti!) and the lack of memory to actually make Carlos’s lunch vs giving him lunch money, and yeah, his first time doing laundry had caused a bubble avalanche that was a pain in the ass to clean up - he was the most understanding father he could be.

Ray had indulged Carlos’s interest in ghosts, knowing it was his way to cope by searching for his mother somewhere in the ether. He allowed his daughter to grieve in her own way, even if it meant not playing the piano or writing, but it broke him to witness. Julie was a talented young women with a passion, and to see that flame blow out, well yes, it twisted his heart in ways only a parent could understand.

“Dad… I - I _can’t_ ,” Julie said, her voice cracking on can’t that made Carlos turn away, desperately trying to hide the sadness on his face.

Ray, who _never_ used this card - not for this, not for Julie’s pain and despair - “For me?”

Flynn had her hands clasped, her brown eyes pleading and shining with tears she was determined not to shed, even Carlos looked at her as if to say, “ _For mom_ ,” and Julie had agreed with much hesitance and dismay.

Flynn didn’t squeal, or clap - she couldn’t gloat, not about this. _Never_ about this.

Leading her best friend up the staircase to Julie’s room, she pushed Julie onto the bed. “I’ll get you something to wear, and we can do your hair.”

Julie didn’t say anything at first. She wasn’t mad, but she was stewing and finally said, “I wish you didn’t do that.”

Flynn gave her a guilty look before picking up her hand. “Julie, I love you. I love you so fucking much, you’re my sister and seeing you hurt, it’s almost like your pain is my own, but this is about _you_ , Julie.” Flynn paused, closing her eyes and desperately tried to regain her composure, then blinked and sighed. “I know you don’t want to hear this, and I get it. I do. I really understand that this sucks, and I don’t know shit because the only person I have lost so far is my grandpa, but Julie your mother loved music - she loved _your_ music. If you decide that after tonight you’re done, fine. I won’t ever bring it up again, but I can’t watch you waste away the last bit of your mother. Not like this.”

Julie closed her eyes, tears streamed down her face and Flynn wiped them away with the back of her hands before taking her best friend’s face into her own and pressing their foreheads together. “We love you, and I don’t know how to take away this pain, but if you let it, music can help you again.”

Julie spent fifteen minutes crying before Flynn began compiling outfits, and then Julie got up and strode out of the room, forcing Flynn to follow her as they went to the attic.

Rose had had a band once - The Dahlias, and while they never went further than Malibu, Rose had kept every item of clothing and when Julie and Flynn, and their other friend Carrie Wilson, had been small they’d go up to the attic and spend hours trying on clothes and pretending that they were in a band and rocked out to The Runaways and Bikini Kill, and all the other Riot Girl memorabilia her mother had kept for safe keeping in this trunk.

The trunk felt daunting. It felt wrong in a way it didn’t before, and that made Julie grab Flynn’s hand as she threw the lid open.

Stickers, postcards, photos all littered inside the lid and Julie paused. How many times had she opened this trunk in her life without really seeing the things Rose had displayed? Fingering a photo strip of a younger version of Ray and Rose, Julie brushed away a few tears and looked down at the heaps of clothes.

“Your mom always had the best fashion,” Flynn admitted, unable to bring herself to sift through the clothes she had taken part in wearing.

Julie’s hand hovered, as if waited to be guided by her mother, or some mystic force of the beyond.

“I want her on stage with me,” Julie whispered, then her face reddened. “That’s stupid, I know, but -“

“Julie, no. No it’s not!” Flynn protested softly, touching her best friend’s hand and the two shared a sad smile before Julie began to cry again.

“I miss her so much! I just don’t know how to do this without her!” Julie cried, sobbing heavily into Flynn’s chest as the smaller girl held her, trying desperately to keep her best friend whole because that’s what best friends did. They took the other’s pain and they endured for the other, and Flynn would walk through hell and back for Julie, for her family, just as they would for Flynn.

Sitting there, red faced with blotchy cheeks and puffy eyes, Julie looked at the open trunk and ran her hand over the wood, closing her eyes. She felt warm, comforted by the worn wood and the scent of old cloths as she looked inside again. Hesitantly, she began to shift things around before finding a dress. It was blue, short but tasteful. It would look cute on her, somehow she knew that deep inside her gut. Shifting more things she found a vest covered in buttons that said things like “Riots, not diets!” and “Riot grrrl” and had roses and dahlias, a few from bands her mother had seen in the 90s. Touching the vest, she looked at Flynn, “Can I borrow your combat boots?”

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Shehad begged her family off, which she knew hurt them - like _really_ hurt them, but as we established, Ray Molina was Dad Support, and if Julie needed to do this alone, he had to accept that.

In truth though, Julie couldn’t allow herself to have her family see her fail.

The odds of her not even getting on the stage were high, but Flynn was bound and determined that, not only would her best friend get on that stage, but she predicted her entire life would change. That had made Julie scoff, but more playfully than maliciously as she rested her arm against the window of Flynn’s beat up Camry. Her palms were sweat, heart was racing, and she felt her stomach toss about like a storm.

She couldn’t do this! Who the hell was she fooling here?

The music - her _mother’s_ music - felt like a giant weight in her bag. When Flynn had convinced her, they had to decide a song to play. Julie hadn’t touched a piano in over a year, right around the time Rose had been admitted to Hospice. Then, there had been no time, but Julie knew in those final days her career was done and there was no going back.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Rose was a great musician, and that was undeniable. Sure, her later career was writing jingles for commercials, but so what? They were the type to get trapped in your head and make you go mad until you got or did whatever the hell the commercial promoted. She was a gifted woman, dammit!

Rose loved to recompose her favorite songs. She had no intention of using them anywhere outside her studio, but hobbies were hobbies, and that was the one she’d chosen.

Julie had loved to listen to her mother recompose music. She’d sometimes attempt her homework as Rose worked, but most days she’d lay on the couch and let the music swell around her, her brain creating worlds that the reimagined melodies would paint. It was peaceful. Julie wasn’t religious, and maybe that sucked considering everything with her mother, but her mother’s music was the closest thing she ever felt to that feeling, and she knew no one could deny her that.

“Silver Spring,” Julie had said, almost instantly, as if she _needed_ it like air. Silver Spring was her mother’s favorite song. Julie remembered the first time it played - well probably not the _first_ , but her first conscious thought involving the song. She might’ve been three, and her mother had been cooking and listening to the radio. She had sung along with everything as she diced onions and peppers, swaying her hips and twirling every now and again. When it had come on, Rose had gasped in delight and turned up the radio and grabbed Julie from her stool at the counter and twirled her and said, “Now baby, _this_ is music!”

Tears had welled in her eyes at the memory, but Julie squared her shoulders and said, “It was one of the last things she recorded… it’s in the studio.”

Flynn had gotten the CD as Julie hovered outside. Flynn asked no questions and made no demands when Julie asked her to go in, mainly because Flynn was her best friend and Julie playing music was the world’s biggest baby step, but also because she knew if Julie had seen the dusty, cloth covered studio, she would’ve cried. Flynn had wanted to, but instead went to the CD’s and found the purple case with _Silver Spring_ scrawled upon it in Rose’s loopy cursive.

Flynn wondered if Julie knew how to actually play the song, but didn’t dare ask her. She trusted Julie, and asking _that_ would cause unnecessary problems.

When Julie held the CD, it took everything she had not to clutch it to her heart and sob. With a set jaw, Julie said, almost with a stony resolve, “Let’s go.”

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Carrie Wilson was, what most DCOMs had taught us as kids, a rival.

Like most cliches, she hadn’t always been. No, once upon a time Julie, Flynn, and Carrie had been a trio. Sure, Julie and Flynn had always been closer with their Double Trouble t-shirts and their band ambitions, but Carrie had never been jealous of that.

Or, at least, she never showed it.

No. Carrie had had Dirty Candi in mind way before she had named it, formed it, or even wrote a note for it. Carrie had been obsessed with girl groups. Her favorites had been The Spice Girls (naturally), Destiny’s Child, TLC, Play, but the Cheetah Girls had really lit the spark. For years after, six to eleven year old Carrie always had her spots on. She’d try and get Julie and Flynn to join her as she sang the songs and danced. Surprisingly, Carrie always wanted to be Dorinda, because Dorinda was the best dancer and if Carrie was going to be the best singer she was also going to be the best dancer. Flynn and Julie sometimes joined in, because those were good movies (yes, they even liked the third one, who are you to judge? One World is a good song and so is Dance Me!) and they loved the songs, but Carrie had been alone in her passions before Kayla Rodrigues had moved and sat three seats back from Carrie in fourth grade.

Kayla liked Chanel, who was Carrie’s actual favorite because of her bit in Girl Power and her fashion, but she’d always saved her for Julie, because Julie had always been proud of her latinx heritage and Carrie decided Chanel and Julie had that in common. Also, Carrie had always said Julie was a better singer. And if Carrie didn’t say it, her father always did.

Kayla hadn’t caused a fissure in the trio, by the way. No, past middle school, despite their efforts, Carrie had drifted away and made Dirty Candi. But the girls weren’t rivals out of talent, even if Carrie did admit to herself of harboring resentment for Julie’s natural gift that Carrie had worked hard to perfect - no, the rivalry was much deeper than a simple moment, but a collection of small resentments and Flynn always taking Julie’s side, whether Julie was right or wrong.

Carrie was a villain if that was your point of view, but this past year had broken whatever little amount of friendship and pity Carrie Wilson could spare. Why does this all matter? Well, when Julie entered Eats & Beats, to the surprise of no one, Carrie was sitting at a table with her small circle of friends all dressed up and ready to go as they watched the band of young boys stumble their way through a song that, Julie could tell, they’d written themselves.

Surprisingly, the girls weren’t swapping snide comments or mean laughs and eye rolls, they simply watched the boys and applauded out of politeness when they finished. So the 180 that Carrie took spotting Julie and Flynn might be shocking.

The girl in her signature pink wig had stood up and stretched and caught Flynn’s eye and Carrie’s smile held a maliceso vicious it felt misplaced upon her cherub-like face.

A demon baby, that’s what Flynn would’ve called her, but instead the short girl seemed to recoil as Carrie made her way over with the girls. “Julie!” she said with a fake cheeriness, Julie felt her teeth ache at the sound. “Wow, when I saw your name on the list I didn’t think you’d come.”

The girl’s brown eyes sparkled and Julie looked at her, but Flynn piped up. “What’s the matter Carrie? Scared of a little competition?”

Carrie actually let out a laugh - her real one that sounded melodic and almost angelic if you didn’t know her, and she grinned so wide that you could see her two rows of perfect teeth. “Of Julie? What’s her big number going to be? The Heimlich?” she sneered, then turned to her friends. “Now if you’ll excuse me, people who want to actually perform are trying to get by,” she said, shoving her elbow into Julie as she moved by and the four girls who flanked the pink girl shot Julie and Flynn looks that ranged from disgust to scowls of irritation and Flynn glared after her.

“I can’t fucking stand her,” she snarled, but Julie ignored that.

Carrie wasn’t wrong, not in the slightest and that worried Julie. “Flynn, I can’t -“ but Flynn cut her off.

“Stop it! Don’t listen to her, she’s jealous and a bitch. You got this, Jules, I _know_ you do.” Then Flynn gave a glance and said, “Get a soda and one for me, I’ll be right back.”

**.**

**.**

**.**

Julie sat at a table tucked into the corner and waited. She could see Dirty Candi standing before the stage, waiting for their cue and saw Carrie take her spot and get into her position before the lights came on.

Carrie was a performer, Julie would never deny talent, even if it was from someone so mean. She watched the perfectly timed moves, watched as Carrie kept in time with every beat, never stumbling. Julie couldn’t imagine the amount of work they’d spent to perfect it. When Flynn appeared, she beckoned Julie to follow her and Julie had tried to argue.

She couldn’t go on. Not after Carrie, or even that band of high schoolers - they had had the one thing Julie lacked: the fire. The need to make music, to have your soul unravel for the whole world to hear. Julie’s soul was so broken and battered that if she unraveled it, she’d never find herself again. She couldn’t.

When Flynn shoved her onto the stage, somehow Julie hadn’t fallen flat on her face. She was too nauseas to even be embarrassed by some laughter in the crowd - she couldn’t even see the crowd, the lights were so bright, and then she saw it: the shiny, black keyboard the club provided per Flynn’s request. The walk to it felt like miles, as if the stage stretched to the ends of the earth and she almost jumped when she touched the top of it, as if jolted from a dream - or thrown into one, but that’s entirely up to your interpretation of events.

Looking at the instrument, it was like she was being awoken for the first time in over a year, and looking at the keys and remembering that pure other worldly feeling, she found it hard to believe that she’d give this up. Running her hand along the surface as she made her way to the stool, she sat down and froze.

What if she did this, and she was horrible and she was right. What if music truly was dead to her? It was one thing for Julie to say it, to say she’d give up music and it died with her mother, but to confirm it. Her hands shook as she hovered over the keys and dropped them, looking skyward. _Please…_

Julie looked back at Flynn and then saw the boy who’d watch their fight and was waiting to play her mother’s CD. He was giving her a concerned look, and when they looked eyes, his mouth broke into a wide, encouraging grin and Julie swore she heard him say: _“You got this!”_

Now, Julie did know that boy so she couldn’t explain why it gave her the strength to play the first notes. At first they were soft and the music came on, and she mixed with it perfectly as she sang.

_Turn around, you'll see me running, I’ll say I loved you years ago…_

Julie felt herself become lost in this music, and it was as if all the pain she’d held inside her pooled out to a puddle at her feet. The music was heartbreaking, it gave Stevie Nicks herself a run for her money, and she let herself be swept away.

_Time cast a spell on you but you won't forget me…_

When the music faded and Julie came back to this moment, she blinked, her face so wet with tears that she was surprised she hadn’t been sitting there sobbing hysterically into her fists. The audience was quiet, and Julie wondered if they assume she was singing for a lost lover, and not the love of her mother, and then, as if everyone woke the crowd cheered. It was like an explosion of noise, and it was nothing that Eats & Beats ever seemed worthy of. Or, well, maybe not some college freshman who hadn’t played a single note in a year. Julie sat there for a moment, stunned and felt this warmth radiate inside her, her skin practically glowed golden as she stood up and ran off the stage, emotion overcoming her as she ran past Flynn and the brown haired boy right into the alley way and bent down to her knees, clutching them as she let out sobs.

When Flynn carefully hugged her, more to not send Julie crashing to the dirty pavement than anything else, Julie buried her face in her best friend’s shoulder. “You did beyond words,” Flynn said quietly, her voice thick with emotion and face wet with tears. “I’m so fucking proud of you. Rose is proud of you! Didn’t you feel her?”

Julie cried harder, because she had. Julie hadn’t been on a stage, but lost in her mother’s soft guitar notes, the light tap of rain she’d added to the melody and the breezes. Her mother had been all around her, and she knew that the warmth was more than pride, it had been Rose, because Rose had been waiting for her in the one place that would always be theirs.

Righting herself, Julie wiped her face on her vest and looked at her best friend. “Let’s go home, I’m tired.”

Flynn nodded, fighting back the disappointment and the one question she needed to ask, but it felt so disgustingly inappropriate. Was music truly dead after a performance like that?

They turned, arm in arm, pausing when the door cracked against the wall and the brown haired boy came out, face red from the sprint he had to have made, and the three froze, all looking at one another with wide eyes and slack jaws.

The boy regained himself first, straightening himself to his full height and giving her a grin that, on any other night if she wasn’t at full emotional capacity, would’ve flipped her stomach.

Julie hadn’t really had a chance to really look at him before now. He was handsome, a bit on the shorter side, but taller than her, and his smile was so warm and genuine that it made whatever comment Julie would’ve said on his exit melt away. Had he really said words of encouragement to her on stage? No. No, because it wasn’t possible. He had been too far away, and they felt close to her left ear…

“You’re performance was incredible,” he said in a rush voice, as if he expected her to vanish into thin air.

Julie gave him a polite, but thin smile and said, “Thank you.”

“I’ve worked here for three months and I’ve never seen anything like that,” he continued, his hazel eyes earnest and Julie prayed that he wasn’t hitting on her. Yeah, normally the thought of someone this cute wanting her number would have her jumping for joy, but she was so raw emotionally that she wished he’d just read the room.

“Thanks,” she said, this time more clipped, her smile tighter.

“Listen,” he began and Julie sucked a deep breath from her nose and began to count to a hundred. “I have a band. We’re small, kind of,” he said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “I - fuck - after what I saw there, I’d be an idiot to not even ask.” He paused, collected himself and Julie released her annoyed breath, feeling confused as to what was happening and shared a look with Flynn, who shrugged.

“Sunset Curve _needs_ something - okay, it needs one thing, but after what I witnessed in there, Julie, it’s obvious we also need someone with your talent. We’re here,” he said as he placed his hand at his shoulder, “but with you, we’d be here!” and shot his hand way above his head, grinning at her.

Julie blinked at him, then she shook her head, “Wait… you want me to… join your band?” she said slowly because she couldn’t wrap her mind around this. This cute boy wanted her, the girl he heard saying that music was dead to her, to join his band.

Flynn snorted, then had the grace to look sheepish when he glanced at her. “Sorry,” she apologized, especially after the Carrie Wilson shenanigans she’d witnessed, “but we don’t know you or your sound, it’s not the best pitch.”

The boy ran a hand through his hair, making agreeing noises as he turned to Julie again. “Please, just hear me out. We’ve kind of had a hard year and -“

“Listen,” Julie said sharply, cutting him off with a wave of her hand. “I appreciate the offer, I do, but I’m done. I need to go home, I can’t do this right now.” She was hanging on by the skin of her teeth, and if she didn’t leave she’d explode in a fit of blind emotion. She needed to take a long bath, she needed to think and maybe journal - being asked to join a band she didn’t know, even _if_ it had a great name, was not on tonights agenda. Moving past the boy, she paused. “I really do appreciate it, but I’m sorry, I can’t.”

With that, she crossed her arms over her middle and made her way to Eats & Beats parking lot and Flynn gave the boy a sympathetic look. “Sorry, she’s the boss. Thank you for tonight, though… bye.”

And with that, Flynn left the boy to look after their retreating forms, unknowing that the gears were turning in his head.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** If you’re surprised chapter two came this quick, my friend you are not alone. While I don’t know how long this story will be, I do have a solid idea of where it’s going and I’m so excited and I will not apologize for pumping anything out like a little bunny. I have started on chapter three, so who knows if it’ll be up this week or next week, but I’m determined for a soon.

Again, this is dedicated to Halle and Terri, I love you both and your enthusiasm for this warms my brittle heart xo.

Thank you to everyone who has commented and liked and might possibly comment on this and leave a like. Your encouragement means the world to me and I love you.

**Disclaimer:** Julie and the Phantoms is the property of Kenny Ortega, I’m just messing around with them in a funky cliche of an AU. The lyrics are from the song _Silver Spring_ , which was written by Stevie Nicks and released in 1977  on Fleetwood Mac’s album, _Rumors._


	3. iii.

**iii.**

**March 2021**

* * *

_I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you…_

Yeah, no truer words have ever been uttered in the entire existence of life as far as Luke Patterson was concerned.

It had been a week, and Luke couldn’t get Julie Molina out of his head. Her song, the raw emotion… None of the boys ever felt the need to replace Bobby, but to replace him with an entirely new singer - to replace Luke, well, how bold could one band be?!

Sunset Curve had had a loyal following, and they still did! People DM’d them everywhere, begging to know when they were performing again and speculating on what had happened, so switching from Luke to Julie, that was a risk, but the way Julie had played - her voice was angelic, it had almost made him cry. Hell, Luke had literally risked his job to chase after her and ask, and sure, Julie didn’t owe him anything but _fuck_!

Luke wasn’t a believer in fate. He wasn’t a bastard, though, he didn’t find it stupid or lame, he just never had a reason to point at something and go, _“Well that’s fate!”_

Arguably, Sunset Curve could be fate, but Luke didn’t say he didn’t believe in fate because of logic, Luke followed logic the way most people followed a Nathaniel Hawthorn novel at seven am (meaning no one did, which meant Luke had no logic to his name), and while he and the boys had met by a series of fortunate events, Julie _was_ fate.

From the final line of that song, to her coming in on his normal night off where he’d picked up an extra shift so they could pay rent _and_ eat, how could anyone scoff at that.

There had been a feeling he’d gotten that had pushed him to chase after her, to not let the moment go, but what did it matter? Julie had slipped through his fingers and he had been left standing there unsure of what to do.

He had her name, but he wasn’t a creep. He wasn’t going to google her and show up at her place, begging her for a chance to prove Sunset Curve needed her as much as she needed them (maybe) - yes, he did look her up on instagram and saw she had a twitter that had been inactive since 2017, but that was it. She didn’t have a FaceBook, and she hadn’t uploaded music to Spotify or SoundCloud - at least none he could find, and boy had he searched high and low until Alex slammed his laptop shut in irritation.

Luke sighed, running a hand down his face as he lay on his bunk, wishing he was asleep. Reggie’s light snores were what he blamed for keeping him up, but it was Julie. Despite what Alex (rudely) thought, Luke didn’t just want to hook up or whatever else the blonde drummer had said. With no video evidence, because of course the one time he wanted Eats & Beats to record something for prosperity they hadn’t, the boys had resulted into mocking his desperate schemes to get Julie to at least consider their band.

“I mean, yeah we’re good,” Alex had said the night before as he tossed a foam basketball at the net hanging on their door - it horribly bounced off and for a drummer, Alex had shitty hand-eye coordination, “but, like, what makes you think someone as talented you say she is would even want a band. Taylor Swift doesn’t have a band, Beyonce,” he began to start ticking off famous singers and Luke nudged him out of the way stealing the ball.

“Look, I get it, but there was a feeling -“ Luke began and Alex wrinkled his nose.

“Gross, I don’t need to hear about your ‘feelings’, I get enough of that shit from Reggie,” Alex said as he attempted to snatch the ball back and Luke evaded him.

“Not those feelings, you prick!” Luke said fittingly, and bit back an immature smile and sighed through his nose, trying to compose himself. “It was like - you know, when you play a set that is so perfect that it went beyond your wildest expectations, that was the feeling I got when she played, Alex, and I could see her there with us. She’d fit in, I know she would. The girl reimagined a classic!”

Alex rolled his eyes, “Yeah, but that doesn’t prove anything. She could hate us, we could be inviting someone who ruins us.”

It was Luke’s turn to roll his eyes, “Don’t be so paranoid.”

Alex glared, “Sorry anxiety is in my nature, let me just turn it off to convenience you.”

That made Luke blanch and Alex stole the ball back and made the shoot, only to have it be tossed in Reggie’s face, who happened to be entering the room at that moment, causing an impromptu pillow fight between the boys. Despite all that, Julie was still there at the front of his mind.

He knew he was right - the feeling he got was a sign, or as close to one he’d ever get. How could everything line up so perfectly and lead to nothing?

Deciding he was done laying around and evading more sleep, Luke jumped down and decided that what he needed at that moment was coffee, and not just any coffee, but the expensive one boomers claim make gen z kids broke and not poor wages and capitalistic greed. Luke would spend five dollars on an extra large latte and go to a record store and window shop, then he’d regroup about Julie.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

When Luke entered Java the Cup, he had been distracted because some rude patron had walked into him and nearly knocked him to the ground and yelled at him to watch where he was going (because LA is full of shit heads, and that’s the final verdict on that), so he was flustered and pissed off when he got into the moderately sized line. Taking out his wallet, he didn’t even realize the petite girl with the braids, Flynn was what he remembered but wasn’t confident enough to boldly say it and she wasn’t wearing a name badge that he could see, was behind the register until he looked up to order.

They both looked at one another in shock, then he grinned. “Hey!”

She gave him an awkward smile that clearly begged the floor to swallow her whole and said, “Can I take your order.”

“Yeah, an extra large latte,” he said, wondering if he should play it cool and pretend not to remember Julie’s name and then decided that was a dick move and he wasn’t going to play the ‘too cool’ card. Not about this. Sunset Curve meant more to him than any morsel of his pride ever could be, and squaring his shoulders he said, “you’re Julie’s friend, how is she?”

Flynn visibly flinched but tried to recover as she went, “Hot or iced,” her manicured hand hovering over the cup.

“Iced, please.” She grabbed the cup as he went, “we’ve had two open mic nights that I worked since then and no one’s topped her yet.”

Flynn nodded and went, “You’re name?” with the pen poised.

“Luke. Listen, about what I said to her -“

Flynn looked up at him, she wasn’t annoyed but she was definitely somewhere between anxious and miffed by this whole situation, and that alone made him clamp his jaw shut.

“Are you going to be here in twelve minutes? That’s when my break is.”

With that, Luke paid his 6.78 and grabbed his cup and went to a table by the window and scrolled through his phone until Flynn joined him, a strawberries and creme frappe piled high with whipped cream in hand - it was the flagrant disregard that it was 9:21 in the morning and she was drinking pure sugar with free calories that made him decide that, no matter where this conversation went, he liked Flynn.

“Julie isn’t going to join,” she said with blunt finality. “I looked up Sunset Curve, and she has too… you guys are good. No. You guys are fucking fantastic, and I think she’s making a mistake.”

Luke sat up a bit straighter at this, “Why won’t she consider it?”

Flynn fidgeted with the straw, and she instantly became uncomfortable. “It’s been a hard year for her… It’s been a hard few years, to be honest, but last year was the worst one for her. Julie’s a talented girl, she has always been talented, but she’s lost herself and I don’t know how to get her back.”

The pain in Flynn’s voice broke something in Luke, and he reached his hand and touched her’s briefly before pulling back and Flynn gave him a sad, but grateful smile.

“I want her to be happy. She’s my best friend and she deserves so much, but I don’t know what to do.”

Luke didn’t know Flynn, beyond the fact that she’d probably give the middle finger to the rules of breakfast and had a love so deep for her best friend, but Luke could see that Julie’s pain, whatever it was, was also Flynn’s pain.

He didn’t know what would make someone like Julie give up music, because Luke was talented, but if he had what he saw inside of Julie, the idea of leaving that behind was unfathomable, but whatever it was, the pain seemed bottomless if Flynn’s eyes revealed anything.

“I want her to join your band. Or, I think I do...” Flynn ran a hand down her braids, shifting them behind her shoulder and said, “she needs something and I’m grasping for straws, but your music is, well, it’s fucking incredible. I haven’t stopped listening to it, and I don’t know... it’s like I could see her there with you guys,” Flynn finished sheepishly, playing with her straw and mixing the mound of whipped cream into the drink, turning it a paler shade of pink and Luke gave her a slight grin.

“I don’t know how to convince her,” he admitted with a sigh. “I mean we have been out of luck for months, and...” he trailed off and upturned his palms as a way of saying _“what can you do?”_ Honestly that was the truth of it all: what could they do? They had no place to practice, no money and only a hope and a dream. Luke had been adamant from day one, even proving it when he left his parents behind: it wasn’t about the money, but that had been naive pride. Money was a luxury you couldn’t turn your nose up at, not if you were choosing between things like food or shelter. Never had he truly understand what the term _Starving Artist_ meant like he did at nineteen.

Flynn sighed. “I’ve been thinking about it, and that moment Friday was a start, but I -“ she let out a tired sigh and placed her chin into an upturned palm, her eyes downcast to the table as if eyeing the puddle of condensation forming around her cup. “It’s stupid, but I think the three of you should talk to her. Bring some music, _make_ her listen. She’s listening to us, but like I said...”

“Hard year,” Luke filled in with a sad smile that Flynn matched in its return.

“Yeah,” she said, her voice tight with emotion and she kept her eyes pointedly to that puddle, her shoulders stiff with the restraint of emotion that made Luke want to hug her, but he’d never been good with others emotions - especially not strangers. Waiting for Flynn to compose herself, he twisted a ring that rested on his thumb, staring at the cool metal.

He didn’t want to speculate about Julie or Flynn’s hard year. He didn’t want to assume the worst, even if it was obviously the worst if it had brought Julie to tears and Flynn as near them as he thought the girl would ever let anyone see, but it worried him. Something _had_ happened to Julie, and that something made her want to give up her gift - no, probably her entire being to avoid whatever pain music brought her. It made his mind spin. Music was healing. That was a fact! Music therapy existed, it’s how people became so loyal to bands that the musicians were seen as more of a god than any religion could ever be. But Luke didn’t dare ask. He didn’t know Julie, and he knew without a doubt Flynn would surely remind him that.

Flynn took her phone out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Give me your number.”

Luke punched it in and sent a text so he’d have Flynn’s, and with that the girl stood up and said, “Breaks over. We’ll talk soon,” she promised and took her drink and left.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

“You do realize this is fucking crazy, right?” Alex hissed as Luke knocked on the apartment Flynn and Julie lived at.

Reggie placed a hand on the drummer’s shoulder. “Relax. What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

Alex gave the bassist a look that assured Reggie that he could give him a five page list double printed, single space and .1 font, but Alex said nothing. He was the anxious one, why would anyone listen to him?

“Flynn assured me it’s fine.” Luke said as he stepped back from the door and waited, shifting his weight foot to foot.

“Oh. Well if that’s the case, then by all means,” Alex sniffed, crossing his arms around his torso to keep his hands still and feet firmly in place. He was a ball of nervous energy because he didn’t want to fight on something he didn’t even know could possibly work or fail. He was taking Luke’s (albeit, tasteful) opinion that Julie could sing and perform - he and Reggie both were, and while Luke wasn’t forcing this, Alex knew if they didn’t get it over with that Luke would never let this go.

The boy was like a dog with a bone.

When the door flung open, Flynn stood their in a knitted pink beanie and a jacket covered in rainbow sequins over an overall dress. Stepping aside, she gestured for them to come inside and said, “Julie’s on her way back from class.”

“Flynn, this is Alex and Reggie,” Luke introduced, touching each boy on the shoulder as he said their name. The boys lifted a hand in greeting and Flynn nodded to them, giving them a nervous smile.

The apartment was actually pretty fucking nice. Luke looked around in awe, wondering how two girls younger than him could afford something that three boys working more than one job a piece couldn’t even hope to afford. Shoving that away, Luke moved to look at photos.

“Do you guys want something to drink? We have tea, iced coffee, soda and water,” Flynn said as she moved into the kitchen. Reggie asked for a soda and Alex and Luke declined, both too anxious to drink or eat.

Alex was looking at photographs on the opposite wall as Reggie sat at the counter tapping the beat to Long Weekend as he sat in silence. Reggie’s anxiety always had a static to it. His parents had always fought - and these fights always got violent with thrown dishes and slaps, but for any kid who lives in homes like that, the worst times were the quiet. Feelings festered and grew in quiet. Quiet to Reggie was like a disease, but people always loved “companionable silence”, but what did that even mean? Reggie sure didn’t know.

Flynn looked at him, then she said, “So did you really cause a mob before one of your gigs?”

The way Flynn said it with a raised eyebrow and finger running around the rim of her cup of iced tea (because fuck if she was going to drink coffee after slinging it four days a week!), it was hard to tell if she was impressed or appalled.

Reggie, however, grinned as Luke laughed and Alex groaned, burying his face into his palms and ears red with second hand embarrassment.

“Yes I did,” he said with a breathy laugh.

“Reggie likes causing trouble.” Luke laughed, smiling affectionately at the dark haired bassist.

“Clearly,” Flynn said, then she grinned. “God stans will fall for anything.”

“Well girls are the backbone of a revolution,” Reggie said with genuine affection.

Flynn’s face was blank as she observed Reggie’s openly sincere one, then, as if deciding Reggie was as trusting as his big doe eyes and goofy grin suggested, she smiled widely and raised her hand for one of the most satisfying high-fives and shouted, “Damn straight!”

That was the moment Alex felt the tension leave his posture as he gave a laugh and Luke joined in, throwing an arm around Reggie’s shoulders, clapping him on the chest.

“Our fans are as passionate for our music as we are,” Luke said and Flynn looked at her cup, but her smile remained, though it was more strained now.

“Yeah, believe me, that worries me a lot,” she muttered and then took a long sip of her tea.

No one said anything, because there was nothing to say. The boys might be dumb and goofy, but they weren’t stupid. They had a moderate amount of notoriety, but Reggie had made girls go crazy, not out of malice but he was flirty and enjoyed interactions that were on the chaotic side, but they knew about fangirls.

Luke loved fangirls. No, that wasn’t pandering lies like celebrities on their last leg after a rant about privacy and remembering their agent was behind the curtain yanking their hair out - no, no, Luke loved his fans. He loved when they’d interact with the music, sing along, dance and stomp their feet - he wrote a part in a song they had, _Now or Never_ , purely for crowd interaction! If Queen could do it, so could he! But he also knew fangirls could be, well, evil. Some fangirls were evil and they needed to hear it. Bringing Julie on - especially Julie, who was neither white or “conventional” was even more of a risk than bringing on someone who was white and “conventional”.

Fangirls seemed to hate other women, and he had to acknowledge that. Flynn had every right to be grim about this. If Luke knew that them bringing in a 5’7 leggy blonde hair, blue eyed girl would get heat, he didn’t want whatever was around the river bend for Julie.

But, he naively thought, the music would speak for himself.

“We wouldn’t let -“ Luke began, but Flynn silenced him with a look and he felt the grin drop from his mouth and he sighed, because what could he say? Julie would have access to this whether he gave her access or not.

“Is she as talented as Luke claims?” Alex asked gently and Flynn looked at him.

“Probably more than what Luke said,” she said with an affectionate smile. “Julie was wiping off the rust after a year of not performing a single note.”

That made Luke’s jaw drop and the gears turn in his head.

Reggie looked like he wanted to ask, hell, even cautious Alex wanted to ask, but all three boys clamped their mouths shut and Flynn offered them no explanation. It wasn’t her story to tell, and Julie sure as hell made it clear to Flynn that she didn’t want or need pity.

When the door opened, Julie came in with a red baseball cap and a plaid shirt being used as a jacket for the cool spring day they’d had, and when she turned from shutting the door, she froze, then blinked.

“Uh, hi?” she asked, seeing Alex first, then turned and her face drained of color as she saw Luke and eyed Reggie, then looked directly at Flynn with unmasked betrayal in her eyes. “What’s going on?” she asked her best friend tightly.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Julie Molina was sensible, and the most sensible thing to have done would’ve been to DM the Sunset Curve instagram and give Luke a chance. She fucking _loved_ their EP. Get Lost had become her favorite song, but she loved Long Weekend and Now or Never. The more she researched of the band, she found that their former rhythm guitarist, Bobby, had joined The Jolly Rogers, another band she loved and had seen a few months ago, and since then the band had basically gone MIA. It didn’t really make sense. Fans had theories, but no one could believe it was due to Bobby’s absense.

In fact, the consensus of hating Bobby was more popular than anything else. No, for some reason the band had fallen on hard times, and Luke had said Sunset Curve needed something, but Julie couldn’t imagine what.

It was flattering that he had wanted her involved, but their sound was totally different from what she’d performed, even their acoustic bonus EP didn’t match Julie’s sound from Eats & Beats, but that didn’t matter.

With the slight weight lifted off her shoulders, Julie had felt better, but she wasn’t ready, not even close. The idea of being apart of a band and performing and becoming that emotionally raw night after night was too much to think about. Sunset Curve was an option she may have wanted to take, but was not emotionally strong enough to contemplate it.

They had fans, and they had eyes on them, and Julie couldn’t take anymore eyes and whispers and hushed looks of concern or pity - the thought alone could’ve made her scream.

Julie felt like she was constantly in a snow globe. Everything would be still and fine, and them someone would come and tilt her upside down and watch the aftermath of the world falling out of place and crashing back down, and she couldn’t handle it anymore. She didn’t need to be handled with kid gloves, she needed someone to see she was in pain and just leave her alone! She tried music again, but she needed to think, but she didn’t have time for that.

Coming home that day she’d been in a shitty mood. Professor Harrison had given her her final warning. If Julie didn’t perform, she didn’t have a choice but to fail Julie and drop her from the class. An F. Julie had never got anything below a 92 in her entire life, but now she’d have her first ever zero, but in music.

She had sat in a stall in the music hall bathroom and cried about that before getting in her car and crawled through LA traffic in silence. She hadn’t thought a single thought, too numb and shellshocked to care. When she got home, she’d lay down and regroup, but when she came into her apartment, she recognized the boys waiting with Flynn: Alex Mercer, the Sunset Curve drummer, who was anxiously standing in their sitting room; Reggie Peters, the bassist, who sat at her counter, and then Luke who still had his arm around Reggie’s shoulder. Flynn had the decency to look guilty under all her bluster.

“I invited the boys,” Flynn answered, not backing down and looking Julie right in the eye, daring her to say something, anything at all.

Julie’s shoulders slumped and she dropped her backpack to the floor and left it in front of the door, not caring one bit how rude or petulant that looked on her behalf. “Luke… I told you, I appreciate the offer, but I can’t.”

Flynn made a disagreeing noise and Julie whirled on her, “Stop it! I’m serious, stop! You promised me, dammit!” Julie snarled, because this was the straw that had broken her. “You said Eats & Beats would be you backing off!”

“I did, and I fucking lied!” Flynn shot back.

The three boys shared a look, and while all three looked they’d rather be anywhere but that apartment, Reggie looked like he wanted to cry, so Luke gave him a gentle squeeze.

Both girls seemed to not notice, looking solely at one another with glares filled with fire. Julie’s held bitter resentment, Flynn’s held exhaustion and pain, but it was hard to tell which girl seemed to be the scariest. Julie’s cheeks were red and she spat out, “Fuck you! I’m so fucking sick of you, and my dad, and my brother, and everyone telling me what’s best for me!”

Flynn pointed angrily at Luke, “You did that Friday, Julie! You played and caused a standing ovation after a year of _not_ playing! Professor Harrison is keeping you because _that’s_ how good your audition was. You have everything going for you, and I know it’s hard-“

“No! No you fucking don’t!” Julie snarled and Luke was genuinely surprised she didn’t simply pick something up just to throw it.

“Yes I do! I lost Rose, too, Julie!” Flynn screamed back, then a silence hung and Flynn covered her mouth, a choked noised escaped her and Flynn covered her face and Julie paled, but her mouth set into a resentful frown.

“And she was my mother,” Julie said in a harsh, cool voice, unable to look at Flynn. If Julie had been stronger, or better, or whatever other bullshit people could critique an eighteen year old girl who suffered the loss of a mother and mourned her passion being caked in hardened grief, then she would’ve hugged Flynn as Flynn had for Julie, but she had nothing else to give. Not today. Not after the talk and seeing the boys of Sunset Curve in her apartment, or even after the fucking year she’d had. Maybe that was selfish. Maybe this made her a bad person and an even worse friend, but what did it matter? Julie Molina official had nothing left inside her as she turned on her heel and walked into her bedroom and shut the door with a soft click that made Flynn’s heart sink even more.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** I mean I truly had no one words about the ending, because it was definitely more civil in my head, but Julie had other choices and I don’t have any control over these people. Again, this is dedicated to my two beautiful girls: Halle and Terri, who keep telling me beautiful things that encourage me to keep going. I appreciate all of your beautiful comments and kudos, you’re all incredible shining stars, you deserve the world. Try not to judge Julie or Flynn to harshly, they’re young but also my daughters and I might have to fight you.

**Disclaimer:** I don’t own Julie and the Phantoms, but if Netflix doesn’t tell me season 2 is going to happen, I’m gonna lose my fucking mind. Smash that like button if you agree!  💖🌈


	4. iiii.

**iiii.**

* * *

**March 2021**

Alex stood in the sitting room shellshocked. He could hear Flynn cry and Luke trying to offer comfort, but Alex couldn’t see it.

If he knew anything about Reggie, the boy was hanging on by a thread and he knew his friend needed comfort, but knew that in this moment Julie needed it more. If Luke had been watching, he would’ve told Alex to give the girl some space, but Alex knew better. That click of the door wasn’t anger or malice, it was just heartbreak and defeat. Whoever Rose was, Julie and Flynn had been fighting a losing battle against their grief, and if that was what had caused the year long pain that would make a musician quit cold turkey, then Julie had suffered all she could long enough.

Knocking on her door, he heard nothing; no sobs or heavy breathing, and Alex touched the door knob hesitantly, finding it unlocked and shut his eyes and walked in tentatively.

When he heard no protest, he opened one eye slightly, then looked at the scene: Julie was curled into bed, pillow being hugged to her abdomen and she was staring at her pale purple wall. He may not have said two words to the girl, but the sight squeezed his heart and he cleared his throat. “Julie…” he was going to ask if she was okay, but the answer was so obvious it would’ve been more of an ugly attempt at small talk than any real comfort. Swallowing his anxiety he moved to her and sat down on the small spot on the bed and touched her shoulder.

Julie neither acknowledged the gesture or denied him it, and Alex wanted to cry for her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in earnest.

“You don’t even know what you’re sorry for,” Julie muttered, not without bitterness, or any really emotion. Her voice was hollow, and somehow it was worse than the anguish he’d seen between the two girls in the kitchen.

Alex nodded in agreement, “No, I don’t. It doesn’t make it less true.”

Julie lay there for a few moments, then sighed and sat up, keeping her eyes with the pillow she know began to fidget with in her lap. “She was my mother.”

Alex look stricken, then he let out a breath he hadn’t even been aware of holding and said, “That fucking sucks.”

Julie’s lips nearly twitched, but she nodded, “It does suck. It was leukemia. She was diagnosed two years ago… it took her slowly.”

Julie had never said this out loud. Flynn had lived it beside Julie, sitting in Rose’s hospital bed when times got so bad that Rose couldn’t be home, and her dad and brother lived the same way Julie had. Carrie had visited Rose. The strawberry blonde had littered Rose’s room with dahlia’s, even though she and Julie had drifted, because it was all she knew how to do, but Julie had never talked to Carrie about it, or even wanted to. Alex was a stranger. He didn’t know that Julie had once written songs, or played the piano until she could barely move her fingers the next day, or had once given herself laryngitis in the seventh grade because she sang herself too hard, but she knew he cared and that he’d listen.

Tears pooled in her eyes and fell silently down her cheeks, “I never thought she’d just die. She was so sick, and it just happened so suddenly,” Julie choked out, shutting her eyes tightly and the tears fell faster because she remembered it.

Rose had been home and she had seemed so much stronger, but Julie could see now that her mother had put on a brave face for her and Carlos, even Ray. She and Julie were going to finish the song they began, and Ray had taken Carlos to baseball practice and Julie had been in the studio, waiting for her mother as she plucked away at the keys. Her mother had said she’d make them tamales and lemonade, and Julie wondered if her mother had lay down for another nap, or was struggling with the tray. Worry had clawed at her and she toppled over the bench as she jumped up and ran to the house. It was eerily quiet, but it was only because the radio was off. That was exactly what she said to herself to calm down, because everything was fine.

“Mom?” Julie called out, turning off the oven and heading into their sitting room, where Rose was indeed lying on the couch and Julie had smiled affectionately and laughed. “Okay, rise and shine, sleeping beauty, we have a song to finish!” Julie had moved in front of her mother and was going to nudge her shoulder, but she froze.

Rose’s eyes were closed, and her face was peaceful, but Rose had not been asleep. Not really. Julie had heard someone screaming, and she’d realize hours later it had been her. She had screamed for her mom, pounded her chest and tried CPR the way they had taught her in health and safety, but no. Rose had died alone, and where had Julie been? Waiting to finish a song. A fucking song. She could’ve been there, and she could’ve done something - anything, but no, no, instead Rose had been alone.

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” she whispered, her voice angry but she was mad at herself, still. 

Alex squeezed her hand, tears in his own eyes, “I can’t even imagine how you must feel, Julie. I’m not going to pretend like I do, and I don’t know how to feel about your music hiatus because that’s not my choice or call to make, but watching someone being sick for two years isn’t fair.”

Julie tried to wipe at her cheek with her free hand, but the effort was wasted. The flood gate had been opened, and the pain had to be felt, which was just bullshit.

“I miss her every single fucking day, but I also miss music too. It was our thing.”

Alex nodded, because he figured. “They say time heals all things, but I say that’s kind of bullshit,” he said with a shrug, thinking of her his own family and how they had treated him and how he knew, just as Julie did, that loss left a gaping hole inside you that may as well be bottomless. Time just made that wound easier to bare. You could train yourself to ignore pain, survive, but you couldn’t heal the loss of love.

“It is,” Julie agreed, because she hated that saying. Everyone had felt the need to say it to her if they had known Rose and recognized grief, because time wasn’t going to bring her mother back. Time would take more from her than Julie was even prepared for. She’d forgotten little things, things that were so day to day that losing them was as inevitable was sand slipping through your fingers. First, time would take the small details she’d take for granted, but soon Julie would forget the scent of her mother, or the way she held a pen, or what shows they’d watch - time was a thief and everyone was its liar.

“I know Flynn means well,” and Julie tensed, prepared to claw, bite and kill to defend her best friend, even if she did like Alex, “but I think you have to deal with this your own way.”

Julie softened, but also this tiny voice inside her head told her that she wasn’t dealing with it. She was living with put upon guilt and anger and grief, and she had punished herself for being in the studio vs the kitchen, or even just the house in general.

She had never even gone back into the studio since finding Rose. Her dad had told her he covered everything to save the piano and her mother’s couch, but Ray hadn’t really known the ins and outs of the studio, it was his wife and daughter’s domain. Carlos, while he’d wander in and play on his DS or listen to his mother’s goofy jingles and dance around, he hadn’t dared go in without Julie, afraid of what ghosts he’d find lingering there.

“She does mean well, and so does Luke,” Julie admitted and Alex grinned.

“Yeah… Luke. Not going to lie, he was obsessed with your performance, and the man has on record mocked Fleetwood Mac.”

Julie wrinkled her nose, “No! He’s not one of _those_ people!”

Alex laughed, “He’s a music snob! He’ll try and deny it, but the man is a grade a snob and he knows it!”

Julie laughed, “God help us! What, does he unironically like Nirvana and think Kurt invented rock.”

“Oh it’s much worse than that, he thinks pop killed music.”

Julie groaned and buried her face in the pillow still resting on her lap and Alex laughed. “So he’s the worst kind of music snob imaginable, great!”

Alex laughed and then said, “Julie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Luke had tentatively hugged Flynn because it was the right thing to do, and he considered her a friend, but it had been awkward and possibly made things worse - not that he could see how that was possible!

When Flynn had finished sobbing and drank the cup of water Reggie had provided, Luke realized Alex was gone and paled, realizing he’d gone into Julie’s room.

“It’ll be fine, Alex is great with these things,” Reggie had assured, but while Luke agreed, he still felt unhinged at his sarcastic best friend talking to Julie about feelings.

Neither Luke or Reggie knew what to say at Julie’s final words, because while Luke had been thinking the worst, never had he thought of death of a parent.

None of Sunset Curve had a good relationship with their parents, least of all Luke, but he couldn’t imagine finding out his mom had died, not after everything that was said between them. Hell, hearing Julie’s words made him want to crawl home as the pitiful failure she always said music would lead him and crawl into her embrace and beg for forgiveness, but he shoved that away.

“I didn’t know,” he told Flynn who sighed.

“How could you have?” Flynn asked tiredly, running a hand down her braids and shaking her head. “I know Rose wasn’t my mother, but she was like a second mother. I’ve known Julie my whole life, I am an honorary Molina, according to her dad. I went to Disney with them, family trips - Rose always treated me like her third kid.” Flynn brought a hand and placed it near the center of her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut and bit out, “I loved her, too.”

Reggie touched Flynn’s back softly, and Flynn felt some of the pain ease. Shaking her head, she went, “Like I said, it’s been a hard year.”

“No fucking kidding,” Luke mumbled and refilled her water cup.

The boys lead Flynn to the couch and sat down beside her, letting her compose herself. “It’s Julie’s story to tell, but if you even want to be involved in this shit anymore, I still think she _needs_ you the way you seem to feel that you need her.”

Luke nodded, because this hadn’t scared him away, but what could he do? Strong arm Julie into joining? Beg and plead?

“Trust me, we aren’t going anywhere,” Reggie said, the defeat of their situation slipping out in his tone. Luke nodded in agreement and rested his head back against the couch.

“Friends tried to warn us,” Flynn grumbled bitterly and Luke laughed, but Reggie didn’t get it until Luke said the words theme song, and Flynn had slouched in the couch looking angry at the world. “We were supposed to be having the time of our lives, not grieving!” she snapped, hitting the couch and Reggie turned away.

“Yeah, I hear that,” Luke said, also slouching.

The three of them sat there until, finally, Alex and Julie emerged from the bedroom and Julie looked at Luke and said, “I’m willing to hear you out.”

**.**

**.**

**.**

At those blessed words, Flynn had sprung up and tripped over the leg of their coffee table and Reggie and Luke had jumped up to help her back to her feet, but Flynn had already been in Julie’s embrace, sobbing happy tears. At this point, it had to be the little victories.

Luke had looked at Alex in shock but all the blonde said was that he had his ways, whatever the hell that meant. Pulling out his notebook, Luke had looked at Julie, “We had some pieces, but if you want to, I don’t know, try something. Show them I’m not crazy and everything,” he said awkwardly, surprised at just how much the tables had turned in their favor.

Julie had looked at them, shifting nervously because she didn’t have her keyboard. That was still in her room, along with her guitar and dream box. “I don’t have anyway to do that,” she admitted sheepishly, her face red with shame.

The boys all looked at one another and Flynn looked at them anxiously, as if she wanted to suggest something but couldn’t.

“Uh, I mean we have a guitar in our car, but -“ but he wanted to show the guys the magic of that song, to hear what she could do on a piano when it was just her.

Julie shifted. “My keyboard is at my dad’s,” she said, but didn’t want to go home and get it because it might start questions, and what if this went nowhere and she got his hopes up for nothing?

“Our apartment isn’t exactly the nicest,” Luke admitted, feeling embarrassed by that, “but we could try and show you what we got.”

Julie brushed him off, “You guys are briliant. I’ve listened to your Spotify,” she said with a wave. She was the one who had to prove herself, not the other way around.

Just like on stage that night, Julie had a feeling inside her and she knew, just knew, where she had to go and she was scared as she said, “Are you guys free tomorrow?”

* * *

**Author’s Note:** These really are sensitive times… Anyways, I am sorry for a short chapter, but we’re all emotional after that and the next chapter is just gonna be another emotional beating, so what the hell. Anyways, I had the actual audacity to tell Halle and Terri that the start of this chapter was going to be a treat we all deserved, and I wanna take this time to tell them I lied right to their face. Anyways, it’s dedicated to you both so you’re welcome, I suppose. Uh, drink water and if you plan on continuing through this journey, bring kleenex!

**Discalimer:** I don’t own Julie and the Phantoms, but if you felt personally victimized by this story blame Kenny, I’m just exploiting characters I don’t own and their emotional trauma.


	5. v.

**v.**

* * *

**April, 2021**

Julie waited for them outside her garage-turned-studio, but she was sitting with her head rested against the wall as if she was awaiting her execution. Hell, it felt like she was waiting for something even worse as the boys van parked in front of her. Alex was driving, and Reggie had basically hoped out the back in eagerness, though he looked a bit wary at her place. If Luke had though Julie and Flynn’s apartment was nice, it was nothing compared to her oversized house.

She looked up at them, eyes red-rimmed but tear free, making them painfully aware she’d cried at some point this morning and she stood up slowly, as if the act took all her strength to do so without collapsing under an invisible weight. No one said a word, unable to coax her into leading the way or having the nerve to take charge and lead the way themselves, but finally, Julie squared her shoulders and nodded towards the double doors.

Standing in front of them for the first time in a year, Julie felt her hands tremble. The doors had been heavy in the best of times, but she couldn’t imagine her shaking hands opening them. She couldn’t imagine opening the door, going inside and not seeing her mother at the piano, or pacing with a pen cap between her teeth, editing music and humming her melodies out - the fact that she’d open these doors and see whatever her father had done and not Rose was like a dull knife sawing into her; and here she thought she’d known what unbearable pain was.

Luke touched her elbow. “We don’t have to do this. We can find somewhere else, or I can try and get Eats & Beats to let us use their shit,” Luke said gently, but Julie shook her head and bit her lip.

“No,” she croaked out. “No, if I don’t do this now, I’m never going to. I just need a minute, that’s all.”

Neither boy said anything, but they all wanted to hug her, to do it for her and take away the burden, but they couldn’t. Julie needed to do this for herself, and that fact was shitty.

Julie steeled herself with a deep breath, and she reached out with heavy hands and gripped the doorhandles and tugged them back before she lost the nerve, hearing the creak of the disused doors as they pulled back.

For a brief second, her brain played a cruel trick on her where she swore she heard the piano and her mother’s hum, and she wasn’t eighteen but younger, and when the doors opened to reveal the studio she had a smile that was fading. Everything was covered in white sheets, and her heart twisted as she stood there, seeing that Rose was gone and all she had left were ghosts of memories. She didn’t even realize she was crying until Alex gave her a hug from behind and she buried her face in the part of his shoulder she could reach, trying not to sob.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Luke’s heart ached as he watched Julie, then turned back to her studio - a fucking studio, and he couldn’t even be excited. It felt like the cruelest twist of fate to get everything Sunset Curve needed at Julie’s expense.

Luke couldn’t even imagine what doing this was costing her emotionally, but when he turned back to the studio, his heart twinged. The plants were still alive, so possibly her dad still watered them, and while it smelt of dust and garage, everything looked clean and good, but he didn’t dare enter before Julie.

Reggie had taken Julie’s hand, but Luke couldn’t bring himself to do anything because he knew he’d cry too, and this wasn’t his pain, it was her’s.

When Julie came too, she wiped her eyes with embarrassment and said, “I’m sorry!”

“Don’t be, this is hard,” Alex said, patting her shoulder in a way that would’ve been awkward if Alex wasn’t so genuine.

“I just... I think I expected her to be here,” Julie said and Luke turned away, biting back tears. All the boys wanted to cry, but only Reggie openly wiped away tears and gripped her hand harder, making Julie give him a watery smile.

She straightened and brushed her curls away from her face and entered, slowly, taking everything in as she became engulfed in the shadows of the studio. The boys followed her, their eyes roaming, wondering what was and wasn’t appropriate to do as they walked.

Julie touched a bookcase, her fingers roamed a shelf briefly, before turning to the grand piano covered in a white sheet that sat in front of a window with drawn curtains. Julie fingered the sheet before gripping it, and with a tug it fell to the floor and Luke heard paper hit the ground and he bent to grab it and staid in his knelt position, realizing it was a song. His eyes skimmed it as he slowly stood, looking at Julie who was looking back at him with so many emotions that made him feel overwhelmed on her behalf.

“Did your mom write this? She was really talented,” he said and handed it to her. Julie took it slowly, skimming it and folded down a corner and her eyes filled with tears and she bit her lip, closing her eyes.

_Julie, you got this._

_Love, Mom._

“I didn’t even know she’d been working on this,” she forced herself to say, her voice strained and her eyes closed. “We - we were working on something when-“ but she couldn’t say it, not here, not with that day so fresh inside her.

The boys looked at Julie, then one another, then back to the girl and hugged her.

“It’s going to be okay,” Luke assured her, rubbing her back and Julie nodded.

She had never given much thought to love at first sight, mainly because it had never concerned her, but she never knew an instantaneous platonic love so deep that had come so quickly as she held onto these guys who were holding her pieces together, and she felt peace in that love.

When they pulled away, Luke looked at the paper now being held by Alex and Reggie and he wanted to ask if they could use it or if she could play it, but he couldn’t. It felt wrong to try and do a business-like transaction in a place so deeply connected to Julie. He’d never exploit her, but asking anything about that song or her music with her mom felt like that.

“This is beautiful,” Alex said, handing it back to her.

Reggie nodded, and he looked like he wanted to ask to, but was distracting himself with the zipper of his jacket, clacking the metal bit up and down.

Julie looked down at the paper with a love so pure and so sad that Luke thought his heart would burst watching her. “She was really, really talented,” Julie said, her head lifting to look around the studio then back at the paper. “Can I try this one?” she asked in barely a whisper, Luke nearly missed it but he nodded encouragingly.

“Of course, Julie,” he said softly and he and Reggie took the sheet off the couch and folded it before sitting down with Alex. They waited for her. She touched the worn wood, her hands brushing the keys that made slight notes under her finger tips and then she sat down and breathed in.

The first notes were magic. They hit Luke fast and hard as she gained speed, her voice choking up and easing out, her melody carried far beyond the studio, it brought this hope inside him that he didn’t really understand what he was hoping for: a place, a moment, maybe forgiveness, but he wanted to cry, Reggie suppressed crying the best he could, and Alex Was crying, but softly.

They didn’t dare applaud when she finished, no one made a noise in fear that whatever happened that lingered between the four of them would leave, but soon Alex let out a small whoosh of air and said, “Flynn was right, you are better than Luke described.”

And that was that. They went from being Sunset Curve to something bigger and better, and while at the time they had nothing to show for that, the four of them knew the tides had changed in their favor.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Julie felt conflicted a few days later when Luke sat on the couch in the studio with his pick between his mouth while he jotted down ideas. When the dust had settled, the four of them decided to leave Sunset Curve behind. It had been a suggestion from Reggie, of all people, who had taken Flynn’s words to heart. They all had, but while Reggie could be on the... less sharper side of the drawer, he actually had wonderful foresight along with empathy.

“It might be better for Julie in the long run. New band, new beginning,” he had said that night over his slice of deep dish pepperoni pizza that Ray had ordered for them.

But with Sunset Curve in the past, that meant one thing: new music. Thankfully, both Julie and Luke seemed to have the golden pen, even if Julie had shared things with much reluctance. Oh, and Flynn had mentioned her dream box within Luke’s earshot, and while the boy could sometimes hear nothing when in the zone, somehow he’d heard the words “lyrics” and “dream box” over the beat the boys were creating, amps on and drummers slamming, but Luke had heard her and badgered to her until she relented and brought him upstairsto her room where he’d sat on her bed (the boys may have been getting too comfortable with her, but then Julie found that she didn’t mind that).

Pulling down her dream box, she sat beside him, curling her legs crisscross applesauce and tentatively opened the cover. Her box was full of paper - scraps that had single words, receipts with lines, a napkin full of music notes and full poems she had had ambitions to make songs - oh, and glitter, but in her defense it was faerie dust and she’d made a wish before spilling the contents of her Etsy purchase in the box, but that was beside the point.

Luke was grinning wide, eager to see what she would pull out, and she had pulled out a single folded up sheet and shut the box. Everything in there was from a past that no longer mattered (okay, it did, but this song was more important).

“I wrote this about Flynn. It’s for her being there for me through everything,” Julie said quietly and handed it to him. Luke took it gently, unfolding it as if it were some priceless archive of history and read it, then read it again, and then again.

Julie sat nervously and when he looked up his jaw was slack. “You’re insanely talented, did you know that?” Then, because he couldn’t contain himself he quoted, “‘ _if somebody hurts you I’m going to get hurt to’_ that’s an insanely powerful line, Julie.”

She bit back tears, they were of pride but also how familiar this felt. Her mom had always loved Julie’s lyrics and praised her mind, and this felt like coming home somehow. Sure, everything was different and remodeled, but the foundation was the same: she trusted Luke.

He was reading it again, then he said, “We could work in a melody, like solo oh oh,” or something like that and his cheeks were pink when he met her gaze, “sorry me and Reggie always -“

“No, it’s fine, I gave it to you to see if it’d work, and clearly it does,” Julie said with a small smile and Luke grinned back.

When they gave the song to Alex and Reggie, both boys were eager to rework it and create a song to it. As Reggie pulled the strap for his bass on he asked, “So when you say “deep dish” do you mean pizza, or-“

But Alex cut him off, “Gross. Please don’t be that guy, that’s fucking embarrassing.”

Julie’s brow furrowed in mild confusion and Luke shook his head. Reggie Peters, if it wasn’t food it was something else.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Weeks later, Julie didn’t even pretend not to know why she pulled out _the_ song. They’d never finished it, and she knew where it was in the room and had seen it the first day on the shelf and she was done running from it. Luke had come over while Alex and Reggie were at work to write more with her. For a week they’d been reworking a song she knew would be a signature banger, _The Edge of Great_ , and they had tried to decide if the bridge needed a guitar solo or her piano solo, but Julie had woken up and needed to do this.

She’d gone down to the studio alone, something she’d yet to do in all that time. The boys or Luke had always been with her, and it had been before dawn. She had slept poorly, and creeping down the stairs she went inside and stood in the door way, listening for her mother, pleading for her to appear, but the room had been still as Julie had walked in.

Standing there, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, remembering every moment spent here and felt an ache so deep that it almost broke her, but it felt good too. “I miss you so much, mommy,” she whispered, crying as she stood there. “I’m so sorry that I quit, that I wasn’t there.”

The door was still opened, so obviously it was a breeze from outside, but Julie swore she felt a faint touch against her cheek and she almost smiled. Turning to leave, she heard the single piece of paper hit the floor from where it flutter off the shelf where her dad had obviously left it . Julie paused, turning to the noise, not really aware, but also nervous to go over and then pushed that feeling away. Moving, she picked it up and felt herself almost electrify at what she was seeing.

“Mija, this will be your anthem,” Rose had said, smoothing a hand down Julie’s curls. “I see you performing this and it will move mountains,” she swore up and down in that motherly way that always made Julie smile. Her mother had seen Julie as a star, not one in the making or in some distant future, but in the now and it made Julie’s heart twinge at the memory of the feeling she got when her mother said these things.

_My anthem..._

It was all she could think, because the words didn’t feel like lies - maybe they were. She had run for a year of her life from these feelings, she hadn’t stood tall or dreamt or anything, but Luke and Alex and Reggie, they made her want to. She didn’t have to stand alone, they, like Flynn could hold her up, bare her weight when the pain was too much because that was love.

_Our anthem,_ she decided.

As Luke adjusted the acoustic guitar and pulled out _Great_ , Julie stopped him. “I actually have a song, if that’s okay,” she said quietly, nervous by yielding the process on _their_ song vs a her and her mother’s song, but the sheer act of sharing this piece of herself, the last thing she truly had of her mother as incomplete as their goodbye. Julie had thought she resented this song, but she didn’t. She couldn’t, no matter how stubborn she could be, this song was about strength and resolve and love, and it had been her mother’s last gift to her, even incomplete. Just some words and notes, not even strung together just haphazardly around a piece of sheet music.

“Of course, Julie,” Luke said with wide, surprised eyes, but she could tell he was eager and nearly shaking with excitement, but was containing it all because of how small and nervous Julie looked.

She picked up the paper from the trunk they used as a coffee table and gripped it in both hands, crumpling the sides as she held it tight, not quite ready to let go. “It’s something me and my mother were working on, before, you know.” Her breath was shaky and Luke placed a hand on her knee, compassion filling his hazel eyes but he didn’t reach for the song, just waited.

“We had planned on working on it before I found her,” Julie said, her voice shaky and stray tears fell, but she didn’t need to stop because she could do this. “I want to finish it for her. For me.”

When she put it in Luke’s hands he read it, taking it all in and said, “This is really beautiful.” Julie’s heart swelled and she felt her lips turn into a smile that Luke matched, picking up the guitar again and pick moving to go between his teeth he said, “Okay, Boss, we have a lot of work to do.” And truthfully, Julie had never loved anyone more in that moment as she picked up a pen and began to tell him the angle they had been planning on going.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** God, my second gripe with this show (because the first is that they deleted that Julie and Flynn scene from episode one that I rewatched last night and _cried_ over) is that Julie comes in episode four (I believe) and shows Flynn the music she and Luke worked on the weekend prior vs showing us _and_ one of those songs was _Stand Tall,_ the song she and her mother hadn’t finished yet - like my god, what a parallel that makes me lose my damn mind!

Again, Halle and Terri, this is dedicated to you both because light the fire under my ass to keep going. To everyone commenting, leaving likes and reading, thank you so much. I love you all!

**Disclaimer:** Julie and the Phantoms is owned by Kenny Ortega, and sadly probably Netflix and we all want to scream for season two confirmation at this point.


	6. vi.

**vi.**

* * *

**December 2019**

Maybe there was no such time to leave without being cruel, but if Luke were to wager, the week before Christmas was the cruelest way to leave.

Now, Luke didn’t hate his parents - Luke loved his parents so much that it could truly consume him, but they just didn’t get it. Music to them was a hobby, and he was just dicking around when the future was close. What about college? A job! What would he do with his life? Play at rundown clubs and the boardwalk and live on a couch forever? It was what Emily, his mother, always screamed about. Mitch was different, he’d give Luke disappointed looks and sighs, because he was throwing his life away, but he was a man and he couldn’t bully Luke into taking this seriously, but Luke _was_.

His parents were happy in their small ranch house in a decent neighborhood. His mother was happy being a daycare teacher, his dad was happy being a banker, but that _wasn’t_ Luke. Luke had a fire inside of him that could only be fed by music - his passion was beyond a hobby, a little gift his parents thought he’d like and maybe bring out around Christmas trees and bonfires, but Luke had found an outlet for his emotions. He’d spent so much time being called a ‘hyper active boy’, but music had given him a place to clear his mind.

If he was nervous, he could work it all out by writing a song. He had gotten the grades he needed before dropping out (runaways and school? Not a good mix, sadly.) by making songs. Yet all his parents saw was time wasting away.

“You and that silly band,” his mother had muttered angrily as she’d been cooking dinner, thinking that’d be the end of their heated discussion on why he was late and why none of his homework was done, but it had been the spark.

Luke had suppressed it for so many years, because truly what could he do or say? He’d gotten gigs that paid (not a lot, but it was pay!) and tips from the boardwalk, he’d done everything he could think to do that wasn’t a physical record deal - something completely out of his control, and it was never good enough. He was never good enough, and he was done.

When the “fuck you” slid out, Luke hadn’t even registered that it was him. Luke respected his mother! He may not have followed all the rules or done what she wanted, but never had he ever been so disrespectful, so truly unforgivable at that moment.

His mom had startled, tears forming in her eyes at the shock, “Excuse me?” She didn’t even sound angry, just startled, as if Luke had slapped her.

“I’m so fucking sick of you and dad treating everything I do as pointless. I’ve gone after what I’ve wanted, you can’t even say the same thing! You gave up your dreams for this life, but not me!” He snarled, angry and vicious, a kicked dog ready to attack, and he knew just how to hurt her the most.

“Luke, stop it! You never think about reality! This is reality!” his mother snapped back, waving her spoon around and Luke gave a sharp bitter laugh.

“It’s your reality! You chose this, not me!” He went into his room then and his mother followed, eyes widening as he emptied his backpack, whirling it so items fell and scattered across the floor, somethings breaking, but everything in his way he kicked to the side. He grabbed his music notebook first, then opened the drawer and blindly threw things in.

His mother grabbed his arm, “Luke! No, stop this!” but he’d shaken her off and moved her aside and began taking things from his closet and grabbed his guitar, throwing the case on his back.

“Why should I! If I’m going to be such a loser, I better get on doing it, right?!” he’d screamed in her face before exiting the room and she chased after him.

“You know we don’t think that, we just care about you!” she yelled, trying to grab his arm but he shoved his hoodie into his bag and turned back to her, fire in his eyes.

“No. You think all of this is just a joke, and I’m so fucking tired of listening to you and listening to dad! I’m fucking out of here,” and with that he tore from the room and was on his bike, hearing his mom scream after him, but he didn’t stop, not till he got to Bobby’s garage. He never stopped running from that moment.

* * *

**April 2021**

Luke was quiet, trying not to make a noise as he hid behind the tree line near his mother’s garden. He could see his parents roaming the kitchen, cooking dinner the same way they always had. His dad touched his mother’s arm, kissing the top of her head and his mother looked up at him and leaned into him. The sight made Luke’s throat tightened.

Two years… His birthday was only a week away, and he knew they’d never given up. He’d seen the signs littering the street. Missing Person. Runaway. His parents offered a reward for information, but he was one of many kids and no one cared about one punk kid, even if those who passed the signs cheered him on at clubs or saw him on the boardwalk, he had learned to hide in plain sight. They all had.

Moving closer, his heart twinged as he saw the small moments he had used to overlook because he’d been a hotheaded teenage boy with a chip on his shoulder, but he saw his parents love and he missed it. He missed _them_.

Seeing Julie’s grief over her mother had compelled him to do this. He hadn’t been there in months, too busy resenting Bobby and his dreams turning to dust. He used to leave money - not a lot, just a few twenties he could spare and nothing else, but he knew they knew. He needed them to know he was out there - he was _alive_ and living his dreams, even if it meant he couldn’t go back.

Luke felt a stabbing guilt. How selfish he must seem to the others? Julie’s mother was gone, Alex’s family had kicked him out, and Reggie needed to leave because staying was killing him. Luke could go home, but he was too proud to go back, no career - nothing to show for it but a lousy apartment and a handful of songs; nothing.

Looking at them one last time, Luke decided that one day he’d be back, a CD in hand and he’d give his parents everything they deserved, but not tonight. Tonight he had to go back to the life they always feared he’d have and make something for himself. Julie was his second chance, and he was going to take that and run.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** I know - I know. But listen, while this chapter is short (and could arguably be called filler), it’s so important to give Luke’s backstory and honestly the next chapter involves drama and I think we all needed a collective break. For as short as it was and for as much as it lacked everyone, I hope you all still loved it. Again this is dedicated to my two girls, both of whom we’ve discussed Unsaid Emily a lot with. Love all y’all.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Julie and the Phantoms, or the scenes taken and manipulated from Unsaid Emily.


	7. vii.

**vii.**

* * *

**May 2021**

They actually had a gig. It was at Eats & Beats, which Luke had grumbled over, but they were beggars, not choosers. Flynn, their self-appointed manager and socialmedia analyst had twitted and instagrammed about their gig for the entire two weeks till curtain call, reminding Julie that Carrie would be performing there - not that that worried Julie. It wasn’t a talent show, anyone could perform.

They had rehearsed any free moment where they weren’t at work or school, per Julie, and now as they sat there with a round of root beer and friends, they felt confident.

“Soon,” Luke said confidently, “ _The Orpheum_ will be begging for us to play.”

“Ah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Alex advised as he popped a fry in his mouth and Luke threw a handful at him.

“Now boys,” Julie said with an eye roll, but she looked from side to side. She didn’t know who was here from a label and she didn’t want to risk it. Alex and Luke, like the children they were, bickered back and forth and Reggie laughed, egging them on.

“How am I the youngest one here?” she asked aloud to no one and Reggie grinned at her.

“You’re just lucky, I guess!” he said cheerfully, stuffing a handful of fries into his mouth and Julie groaned, turning to face the stage.

“Don’t worry, Julie, we’re going to be great. Finally Free is going to put us on the map.”

Alex rolled his eyes and muttered about Luke being cocky and started the bickering all over again and Julie sighed. Reggie touched her arm gently. “He’s right, we’re going to be great, how could we not be?”

And that’s what worried Julie. Everything had been so perfect, it had to be a house of cards, and the first big gust of wind had walked through the door, making Julie perk up.

“Nick!” she cried, jumping up from her seat and running over to him, throwing herself into his arms and holding him close. “I’ve missed you!”

Luke who watched the exchange turned to the boys, “Nick? Who the hell is ‘Nick’?” he asked, only to be answered by a series of shrugs.

Julie lead him over, holding his hand and smiling sweetly at the blonde hair blue eyed boy, “Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Nick. Nick, these are the guys I told you about: Alex, Reggie and Luke,” she said gesturing to them.

Alex recognized him and he and Nick gave one another a hug, quickly catching up before he and Reggie fist-bumped one another in greeting, but Luke and Nick looked at one another before nodding, but Julie had barely noticed as she went to get him a drink and another round of fries.

It was awkward.

_Painfully_ awkward.

Not that Nick really acknowledged that as he sat down beside Alex, the two blondes continuing catching up because _what a small world this was_.

Luke was steeping in his anger because _boyfriend_?! Julie Molina had a _boyfriend_?! He’d known her for a month, how had it never come up?!

Reggie and Alex exchanged a glance, then Alex coughed and tried, “So, how long have you and Julie been together?”

“About a year,” he said, a bit awkwardly because a year ago, that’s when he’d been with Carrie, who was one of Alex’s best friends. “We went to school together,” he continued, his cheeks pink, but Alex wasn’t really judging him, it was just a _really_ small world.

“We never heard about you,” Luke said, trying to keep his irritation in check.

Nick looked momentarily hurt and Alex kicked Luke’s shin.

“Uh, I go to school in San Diego, I haven’t had time to go back,” he said, trying to keep his voice steady as he looked back at Julie who was laughing with the bartender.

“Julie’s really cool, we’ve been kind of working her to the bone,” Alex said with a kind smile before shooting a “what the actual fuck” look at Luke, even Reggie gave him a sour look, but Luke didn’t feel bad as he looked at Julie. _Boyfriend…_

Luke excused himself, saying he needed some air before the stage. Flynn was coming back from talking to Jermaine about the setup and frowned at his dirty look. “What’s your problem?”

“Why didn’t you mention Nick?” he snapped.

Flynn shot him a glare, “It wasn’t relevant, why wouldn’t I?”

“Why wouldn’t you? Are you kidding me?”

Flynn looked away. “Please don’t cause drama, not about this. Nick is long distance and he’s nice, please don’t do this.”

Luke glared at her, and he bit back all that he wanted to say to her, to even Julie. “I need some fucking air,” he snapped before leaving.

**.**

**.**

**.**

When Julie returned, she frowned. “Where’s Luke?” she asked them.

“Being a big fucking baby,” Alex muttered and Julie’s brow furrowed, but Reggie said, “He needed some air. Pre stage jitters,” he laughed, although it sounded as forced as his words sounded like a lie, but Julie nodded, sitting down, taking Nick’s hand. She had missed him, and talking had been… well, neither of them had time, but he had been happy that she’d gotten back into music - really, he did.

Nick Evans was a good boyfriend. No matter what the peanut gallery says, Nick was a good boy! He was kind, compassionate and he was eighteen, of course he could be stupid, but he tried. He had driven back to LA for this moment, because the idea of Julie singing again, playing a piano again, it could make him want to cry.

“I just can’t believe you found Alex, of all people,” Nick said with a laugh. “Are you and Luke still together?”

Alex reddened, “Uh, no. We broke up, but still friends, though.”

“Oh! Right! Sorry, without Carrie the gossip kind of faded, I guess…” Julie fidgeted a bit, because she knew exactly how Carrie felt about their breakup. The whole school had known at the time, but that was an entirely different tangent.

“She’s performing tonight. It’s a new song, she was excited when we talked,” Alex said.

Suddenly, Julie startled. “Wait… you _know_ Carrie? Carrie Wilson?”

Alex grinned a bit, “Yeah! I’ve known her for a few years, she used to be into Sunset Curve, but I walked her dog a few times back in the day, we talked.” Alex knew Julie knew Carrie, but he didn’t want to talk about it. The mere thought made his body ache with anxiety because he had known of Julie.

_Julie_. Carrie used to seethe her name with venom, because she had supposedly stolen Nick from under her. Alex had always listened, never agreeing or disagreeing with her, but now he knew that that couldn’t be possible. Hell, Julie barely noticed that _Luke_ liked her, and Luke was obvious as fuck about it.

Julie glowered at him, but said nothing as Flynn came over and gave Julie a questioning look and said, “Luke’s getting some air, do you need some too?”

Julie stood up, “Yeah, it seems I do.”

Nick looked at them, confused, “Did I miss something, or -“

“Buddy, you have no idea,” Flynn teased before hugging him.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Luke paced furiously, muttering incoherently his anger because how could they just keep that from him? When Julie joined him, she froze, unsure if she should stay or go because his anger had charged the air, made her almost nervous. He turned to her, glaring.

“I feel like I should be sorry about something,” Julie said with uncertainty, letting the door close behind her. Luke gave a hollow and bitter laugh.

“A boyfriend!”

Julie’s brow furrowed, “Yeah?”

Luke looked at her, “How could that never come up, I thought we were friends!”

Julie looked at him, “We are! It just never came up, we were making music and my mom - why is Nick relevant?”

“You can’t be serious, even he was hurt when he found out we didn’t have a clue who he was!” Luke shouted.

Julie frowned, “Don’t fucking yell at me about this! What’s wrong with you? I have a boyfriend, I’m eighteen, _dad_ , a legal adult!”

Luke shoved his hands in his pockets, angry but what could he do? Scream at her? She had a boyfriend… “I just thought we told one another things,” he said bitterly.

“Oh, like you and Alex being exes, or Carrie being one of his friends - yeah, we really had our heart-to-hearts about these things, Luke,” Julie snapped. “Screw this, I don’t need this! I’ll see you inside.”

When the door slammed shut behind her, Luke let out a little scream.

**.**

**.**

**.**

For most bands, the papable anger would’ve destroyed them, but Julie and the _Phantoms_ \- not the fat ones, as Kenny had announced because Luke’s handwriting sucked for a grown man - persevered.

Beyond that.

For Julie and Luke’s fight hadn’t ruined their chemistry, but it made it stronger. The air had become electric as they sang, sharing the mic.

_Finally free, yeah!_

The crowd had cheered, whooped, stomped their feet and the four of them had taken their bows, heading off the stage, the anger almost forgotten. Almost.

Nick had picked her up, twirling Julie around and kissing her on the forehead, making Luke glare and stalk off in bitter rage, Reggie had spotted Kayla, a friend of Carrie’s and a member of her group and had offered to buy her a drink, but Carrie had spotted Julie and Nick, her eyes flamed as she turned away, running into Flynn, causing her drink to spill between them.

“Watch where you’re going!” Carrie snapped, no witty remark - nothing.

Flynn glared, “You fucking ran into me!”

Carrie narrowed her eyes, then looked Flynn up and down and the petite girl felt her face warm. “Whatever you say, Flynn.” There was something in Carrie’s eyes that made Flynn uncomfortable, nervous, even.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she hissed, keeping her voice low.

“Don’t worry, Flynn, you’re secret’s safe with me,” she sneered, tossing the hair of her wig over her shoulder and walked away.

Flynn looked around, her face nervous as she bit her lip hard. Flynn wasn’t closeted - not technically. She just had never had a big coming out, because why would she? She was black, she was tiny, and her life was a risk enough, why add gas to the flames? But if Carrie knew… No! Carrie Wilson was a bitch and she bluffed often - Carrie Wilson didn’t know shit!

On the other side of Eats & Beats, a different scenario was taking form. Alex was about to play a round of darts with Luke, because lord knew the boy needed to get out his pent up rage, and he paused when he heard someone call to him.

Pausing in confusion, because who did he know here that was a stranger? Turning, he froze. A boy with long, dark hair came up to him, smiling and he felt his heart skip a beat.

“Hey, you’re Alex Mercer, right?” the boy said and all Alex could do was nod dumbly as the boy’s smile broadened. “Sweet!” he said, clapping Alex on the shoulder and said, “I’m Willie, I’m actually a rep for HGC records, I was actually worried I missed my chance. There are a couple sharks swimming, you guys were fucking great tonight.”

Alex blinked, his jaw dropping slightly before he choked out, “You’re - you’re a rep from a label. A _studio_!?” Willie produced a card and Alex took it, his hand shaking. Looking back up at the boy, Alex licked his dry lips. “Holy shit!” he breathed.

Willie laughed, “Yeah, I’m not shitting you, I promise. Actually, I think you guys could kind of be it for me.”

Alex looked at the card, then at him, “Let me get the band, we could talk,” Alex offered, though he never wanted to do anything less. Willie gave him a smile and gestured his head toward the bar.

“Here, let me buy you a drink,” he offered, and Alex blindly followed.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** Whoa, hey there, twice in one day. Well, I struck a deal with Halle that if I posted Luke’s I might do two today because the one prior was short.

Now before you all potentially grab your pitchforks and get upset, Nick has been Julie’s man from the beginning. I debated back and forth whether to keep this idea or not, but Halle talked me from a ledge a few nights ago and we love her. But now that the ball is rolling more, I hope you guys kind of see where I’m going but I’m an evil broad, what can I say, I’m ruining all our lives.

I love you all, this is dedicated to those lighting the fire under my ass, you’re all the greatest that ever lived. Thank you for supporting this story, babies!

**Disclaimer:** Julie and the Phantoms belongs to Kenny and I wish anyone but Netflix at this point. Give me season two or let me have merciful death, 2021!


	8. viii.

**viii.**

* * *

**October 2019**

“Get out, Alex.” His mother had said it so coldly that it made Alex freeze, unsure of how to even breathe. “Get out!” she screamed, hitting him with the broom she’d been holding. “Get your shit and leave! Get out!”

Jane, his older sister had run down the stairs, screaming at her mother, trying to stop her from hurting him, but to no avail when his dad got involved. He could hear Olivia, only eight, crying on the staircase begging Alex to stay, screaming for him as Jane was held back by his mother.

“You are no son of mine, Alexander,” his father had snarled, throwing his backpack and jacket at him. He said this with a slew of slurs as he slammed the door in his face, unsure of where to go or what to do. He had his hoodie, a torn jean jacket, a backpack full of useless things, and maybe five dollars to his name and he could hear his sisters screaming for him.

_“They’re your sisters,”_ his mother had once said to him during a punishment when he and Jane had thought, _“it’s your responsibility to protect them, Alex.”_

What could he do now? He couldn’t go home - he was no longer their son…

Wandering aimlessly down the road, he thought of how helpless this situation was. He had known his parents stance on “the gay lifestyle”, he wasn’t stupid. He had hidden it, but no matter what he did, it was wrong.

_“Don’t walk like that!”_

_“Don’t let Olivia paint your nails!”_

_“Pinks a color for girls!”_ It wasn’t, but Alex had history to back that up.

His actions were wrong, he was wrong…

The irony he hadn’t been caught with Luke, who he had been dating at the time - no, his mother had confronted him because a teacher called and mentioned it offhandedly about how proud he was of Alex, because of his sexuality of course! And just like that, his world crashed down and he had nowhere.

When he called Luke, he was incoherent and sobbing, trying desperately to catch his breath because they hated him - they fucking hated him! Luke got his location, stolen his mother’s car and found him at the park, sitting on a swing just looking numbly at the ground.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do now, Luke?”

Luke snuck him in that night, and soon, he’d moved into Bobby’s garage. That’s where his life had crumbled to, a fucking garage with a few possessions that meant nothing, but somehow everything.

“This’ll blow over, Alex, it has to,” Jane tried to assure him, but even he could hear how unsure she was. What did they know about this type of thing? Neither had ever been kicked out for anything. “Maybe tell them it was a lie… a mistake, for now and just -“

“Goodbye, Janie,” was all he said before hanging up the phone and throwing it against the wall, crying. And just what? Hide some more? Never marry or have a life because his parents might hate him? What was the difference or the use?

Alex Mercer was a lot of things: anxious, sarcastic, gay, but he wasn’t going to hide in a closet. Not for anyone, especially not his parents.

* * *

**May 2021**

“Julie and the Phantons,” Willie said, sipping his beer, “odd name. Are you guys ghosts?” he teased and Alex gave an awkward laugh, shaking his head.

“It was Reggie’s idea - the bassist,” Alex began then his cheeks reddened, hating himself for starting this story. “He claimed we’re deadbeats and it worked. Julie liked it, so Luke voted for it.”

Willie nodded, “I like it. It’s catchy, and the song was fucking amazing. I heard Julie perform a while ago, I would’ve sign her then and there, but she disappeared til tonight, it’s insane.”

Alex fiddled with his glass of club soda and lime, it was fucking disgusting, but he had felt stupid ordering anything else. “Yeah, Julie’s truly talented. Luke found her, and the three of us had a band, it kind of fizzled out.”

Willie nodded, his cheeks red. “Yeah, one of our bosses had an eye on you back in the day. Someone saw you play on the strip, but at the time we couldn’t sign people, and then… You know what they say, timing is everything, and I got my lucky break.”

“So you really want to sign us? No tricks?”

“Scout’s honor,” Willie swore and gave a three finger salute before the two broke into laughter. “We need something fresh, man. Like all the bands are good, but they’re riding a trend, you guys are breaking ranks and giving us what we need. Personally, no one else here to back me, but I think you guys could be big. Like Queen big, but with grammies involved. Your song will be stuck in people’s heads for years, you can’t say that about anything else we heard tonight.”

Alex instinctively wanted to defend Carrie, because her entire performance had been epic, but they needed this more than Carrie. While he loved the strawberry blonde in her pink wig, tonight he and the boys would go to a dingy apartment that had begun to drip water - Carrie would be fine. So instead, he nodded, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Listen, you have my card, but I’d love to meet with you all and get you a meeting with my boss. I really think Caleb could put you on the map, I’m serious, Alex.” Finishing his drink, he clapped the blonde on the shoulder and flashing him a smile. “Please call me, I’m a desperate man begging here.”

Alex grinned back at him, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Willie gave him an earnest smile, “Then I’ll see you around, Alex Mercer.”

Alex looked at Willie’s card, grinning to himself while pocketing the card and rushing off to find Luke.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

“He wants to sign us!” Luke said, grabbing the card. The four of them were huddled around the van, Flynn and Julie sitting on the lip of the back, eyes wide.

“No fucking way!” Flynn all but screamed, clapping her hands and then grabbing Julie’s. “You’re going to be famous!”

“When do we meet him to talk?” Julie asked excitedly, grabbing the card for herself. HGC Records. Sure, it wasn’t huge, but Willie’s words resonated inside her and she shut her eyes, thinking of her mom.

_“You’re a star, mija. One day, the world is going to see that!”_

Yes, they would. They’d hear these songs; hear her her, them! It was a feeling that engulfed her as she looked towards the sky, letting the warm night air caress her cheeks.

“First thing tomorrow, I’ll call him. He said they were following our Sunset Curve days, he even saw Julie the night you met,” Alex said.

Luke and Reggie fist bumped, but Flynn and Julie shared a look without turning to one another.

“Wow, what are the odds,” Julie said with a quick laugh and Flynn nodded, because this had to be a positive, right? Like fate. The way it had been with Luke and then the boys.

_You’re going to be a star, just like your mom said, but…_

“Let’s do this boys,” Julie said, holding out her hand and the boys piled theirs on top of her’s, Reggie throwing an arm around her neck and ruffling her hair.

“Tonight, our lives are changed. We’re going to be big, baby!” Luke said, pumping his fist into the air and the guys chanted, dancing around.

Meanwhile, Julie looked down at the card, clutching it slightly. _Don’t fail me now, Mom. That’s all I ask._

* * *

**Author’s Note:** Oh boy, oh boy. Here we are my friends: the half way mark. We are so close to the finish that we’re itching for it. I know this chapter is short, and Alex’s backstory may not be cannon compliant, but I plan on writing a fic that is more cannon compliant than anything we’d find here, so forgive me. I love you all so much, and thank you so so much for reading.

**Disclaimer:** Julie and the Phantoms is owned by Kenny Ortega and Carrie Wilson deserves more credit, _William._


	9. ix.

**ix.**

* * *

**May 2020**

When Nick pulled in front of her house, he turned the car off. The two had sat in silence for the past few minutes, since the excitement of Julie’s news had died down. She knew what he wanted to ask, she’d felt it since Luke had told her, but she was too cowardly to bring it up; to make feeble sounding excuses that he’d pretend to accept because he was nice… good.

Nick cleared his throat, his hands clasping and unclasping the wheel as he searched for words. “The guys seem nice,” he said and she nodded, her eyes on her hands in her lap.

“Yeah, they are. I can’t believe you knew Alex, that’s so wild,” she said, trying to keep her voice light, willing this conversation to end because every reason she had sounded stupid.

“Luke seemed to like me,” he joked, though it fell flat, his tone unable to keep the edge from it.

“He was being an asshole,” Julie said looking up at him, her eyes earnest and Nick nodded, running his fingers through his blonde hair.

“Julie, you’d tell me, right?” he asked, and he hated himself in that moment but he needed to hear it. “If you weren’t happy, you’d tell me, right?”

Julie swallowed and took a hand into her own, squeezing it. “I would never hurt you. Not like that, not ever.”

“I know it’s been hard for you, and I get why I might’ve slipped through the cracks -“ Nick began and Julie’s heart constricted as she shook her head at him.

“There’s no excuse. You’ve been so supportive of me, of what I’ve been through.” She gnawed on her lip, fighting back tears because Nick hadn’t understood it - not really. They bonded over music. He played guitar, he’d been in a high school band that fizzled out before graduation, he wanted to direct musicals and write for Broadway, but he had held Julie before leaving for college. He loved her, and Julie loved him in her own way.

Julie had crushed on Nick from the moment they sat next to each other in biology. They hadn’t been lab partners, because she’d sat beside Flynn and he got paired with Carrie, and she let it stay at infatuation because Carrie was her friend of sorts, and Carrie was happy. Back then, Carrie had so little to be happy about, but Julie only knew vaguely of her issues, even when they’d been close. Nick and Julie had been an accident, a blip in the spacetime continuum that allowed them to be at that one moment at the right time.

Nick looked like he wanted to say more, to ask something and she knew what it was. She wanted to ease that burden, because Luke... he was a friend, but she wasn’t naive. Luke and her felt impossible, they were a band and she never gave it thought. She had poured her soul to him, shown him placed not even Flynn knew of her grief.

Julie squeezed his hand, searching for the words. This realization was shocking. It hurt her because what could she do? Should she just cut Nick loose because without realizing what she’d done, she’d opened herself up for Luke, and knew Nick wasn’t mad at Reggie or Alex, even if the latter wouldn’t reciprocate?

She swallowed and kissed his cheek and he closed his eyes, like he sensed an end. “I’ll see you tomorrow in the afternoon, I promise.” And with that, she got out of his truck and watched him turn the key and drive away, sighing to herself. _Julie, what in the world have you done?_

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Flynn was still unsteady about Carrie’s words. _You’re secrets safe with me._ The way she said it and looked. Flynn had long since believed she’d gotten over her Carrie Wilson phase. Well, phase implied the crush had been short, but it had expanded long over their young, on and off over the years, and she had tried to squash it junior year because it was _never_ going to happen. Sadly, her heart was destined to be the fool.

She sat beside Reggie, who was grinning ear to ear as he texted beside her, and she noticed Alex watching her in the mirror. She turned from him, watching the cars pass as Luke recklessly drove, either from natural bad driving or still seething over Julie - both, probably, but Flynn couldn’t focus on being worried of a sudden collision because those words danced in her head. She had never come out to Carrie. They hadn’t been friends when she’d chosen to tell Julie, Carlos knew, so had Ray and Rose because Carlos had been young and had a mouth too big for his own good, but Carrie...

Now, Flynn didn’t believe the girl cared or would weaponize it. Carrie was an asshole, but not even she would cross that line, or want to. She always respected the LGBT club, had been respectful to her trans and non-binary classmates, always correcting herself and apologizing when she slipped on names or pronouns, but no. Flynn knew that Carrie knew that Flynn liked - no! - that she had liked her at some point, but why gloat?

Flynn knew why.

It wasn’t because she was a girl, but that was just Carrie, and Carrie loved knowing she had all the power and loved reminding people that she was the puppet master.

“You okay?” Alex finally asked after her third sigh and Flynn jolted.

“What? Me?”

“Yeah, unless you’re trying to be the cause of excess of carbon monoxide in this car, stop with the sighing,” Alex deadpanned, his blue eyes locked onto her.

Flynn shot him a filthy look and crossed her arms. “First, that was awful. Second, I just have a lot on my mind and you don’t have to be a dick about it,” she said and turned her face away, jutting her chin up and crossing her arms, making it clear she wished to ignore him.

“You and Julie aren’t really going to be that petty!” Alex said in exasperation. “What are we? Ten? I’m Carrie’s friend, so what? I didn’t do it to spite you.”

“Don’t be so full of yourself, it’s not a good look on you,” Flynn sniffed, her chin still jutted pointedly out the window.

Alex fully turned in his seat to give her a dirty look of his own. “You’re being a brat, that’s not a good look on _you_!”

“Wow, witty come back coming through,” she hissed with an eye roll.

“Don’t fight you guys, please. We had a good gig,” Reggie said, his phone clenched in his hands, not able to look at either of them.

Luke sighed. “Reggie‘s right. Besides, who cares?”

“Please don’t act like you’re not throwing a hissy fit over Nick, we see you. Besides, this is personal,” Flynn snapped at him.

“Well, Julie having a boyfriend is personal to me,” Luke snapped back and Flynn flopped back into her seat, arms firmly crossed, glaring at the seat in front of her - Luke’s seat.

“Then I guess you’re going to have to get past that,” Flynn snarked and Luke looked in the mirror, glaring at her.

“Fuck you, Alex is right, stop fucking sighing and get over it!”

“Guys!” Reggie said, and he was pale and panicked and all three immediately stopped, looking away in shame.

“Sorry, Reg,” Luke said and Alex and Flynn followed, muttering apologies.

Flynn gnawed at her lip, fidgeting as she sat beside the dark haired boy who picked up his phone, but was clearly looking for distraction and wasn’t finding it. She didn’t know much about him beyond he played bass, liked cartoons and loved his job as a dog walker, but she wondered about why they treated him with kid gloves… why he needed them. She wasn’t bold enough to ask, but she wanted to know. Instead, she reached out her hand, touching his leg before immediately retracting.

Reggie started, looking at her, and then smiled at her before turning back to his phone, more at ease than before.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Alex had called Willie around nine. The boy had answered with eagerness, despite not knowing it was Alex per se, but he’d been hoping the blonde would come around.

“Yeah, man, let’s meet at Eats & Beats around noon. Bring the band, I’ll bring you our terms and get you a meeting with my boss,” Willie had said and Alex nodded, getting a few more details before hanging up and telling Reggie to call Julie.

The discussion surrounding who should call Julie almost sparked, but Reggie had been desperate to leave the hostility behind and was surprised to hear Julie sound hesitant.

“Noon?” she squeaked, and he could hear her move around, shuffling papers aside and his brow furrowed.

“Yeah… Is that okay? We can pick you up,” he offered, ignoring the look Luke was giving him, then Luke trying to get his attention as Reggie waved him off, plugging his ear to hear better.

“Uh… I mean,” she hesitated.

“What is she saying?” Luke hissed, moving closer and Reggie shoved him away, giving him an annoyed look.

“Let me call you back!” she resolved, and Reggie heard the line die and he pulled his phone away.

“What happened? What did she say?!”Luke demanded, looking equal parts miffed and eager. Alex had come out of the room, looking between them, confused.

“I don’t know?” Reggie said, his voice upturning the statement into a question. He was as confused as Alex and Luke, and he looked down at his phone. “She just hung up… She seemed concern that it was at noon, but I don’t know?”

Luke’s nostrils flared, but he locked his jaw. Alex was ghost white, his mind reeling. “You don’t think she’s backing out, right? She wouldn’t do that to us, right?”

“No!” Luke ground out, determined he hadn’t misjudged her. “She wouldn’t do that. Not to us.”

No one mentioned that at one time, they had thought Bobby would be with them to the bitter end and Reggie jumped when his phone vibrated and he answered it.

“Okay… I’ll be there.”

**.**

**.**

**.**

“I promise. Tonight, you, me and dinner,” Julie vowed to Nick as they hung up. He had been disappointed, but had kept his chin up and had been happy for her.

“This is too important, Julie, you can’t pass this up!” he had said earnestly, and it made Julie’s gut twist as she got ready. Nick really was too good, she thought to herself as she put in a pair of hoops, then turned to Flynn who leaned against her door.

“Hey underachiever,” Flynn cheesed.

“Hey disappointment,” Julie said back, though her heart wasn’t fully into it as Flynn came in and sat down on her bed, waiting with a raised brow. “Am I an awful girlfriend?” Julie asked, shutting her drawer, leaning against the dresser, unable to even look at her best friend’s reflection as she looked down at the wood.

Flynn sighed. “No, Julie. I don’t.” Flynn stood up, moving behind the girl and touching her shoulder gently, squeezing it. “I think you’ve had one of the worst years of your life, and this is the first time you’ve been alive in awhile. Nick understands, Julie.”

Julie shut her eyes. “I know he does,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes, willing herself not to cry. Flynn gave her friend’s back a sympathetic look. “I know I should break up with him, Flynn. I know, but…”

“Julie, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay,” Flynn assured, hugging her friend from behind. Julie patted her hands, leaning back into her friend.

“I just… I don’t want to hurt him, not after everything.”

Flynn sighed and kissed the side of Julie’s head before releasing her. “C’mon, or else we’re going to be late, and it’s time for you to be a star.”

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

The band all huddled into a table in the corner, waiting for Willie. Luke attempted idle chitchat with Reggie, just to distract him from the three-way tension Julie was having between him and Alex, her arms crossed and chin tucked into her chest as she waited, still unsure of how exactly to do what she had to do.

Alex, however, was fidgeting with nervous energy over seeing Willie again and also this opportunity. But mostly Willie, he wouldn’t lie.

When Willie came in, Alex sat ramrod straight and the other three turned. Willie smiled, waving at them. “So sorry I’m late, LA traffic is the worst,” he said, taking Luke’s hand and shaking it and made his way around the table and taking a seat. “Now, let me tell you guys what I can do for you,” he said with a cheesy grin, removing a stack of papers from his bag.

**.**

**.**

**.**

“A tour?” Luke breathed, his eyes wide as he took the paper in his hand, scanning it with his own eyes.

“It’d be small,” Willie said. “You’d tour a few cities around America, opening for someone and then we’d test the waters from there. I think you could break Europe easily, especially Asia, but that’d be further down the line. Maybe in a year or two, it all depends how the album would be,” he said with a wide grin.

Julie was gazing at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. “You really think we could do that?”

“I do,” he assured her with a smile.

Alex was keeping focus on his breathing, because this was insane, absolutely insane! Reggie was playing through scenarios, imagining touring from west coast to east coast, going worldwide.

“Well then, where the hell do we sign?” Luke asked eagerly and Julie looked at him.

“Wait! No, we can’t just sign. We should have lawyers, and we should read the contract and -“ she trailed off, seeing Luke’s face, and then Alex, and then finally Reggie. She bit her lip. She could see the sheer desperation on their face, the way she knew…

This was the boys big break - it was _her_ big break! But Julie wasn’t a fool. She’d heard the way the industry had screwed over people, she wasn’t that naive.

“Yeah, of course,” Willie said. “This isn’t a sign or bust type of a thing,” he assured them with ease. “I want to simply tell you my intentions. I encourage you to bring in whatever you need, cover your bases, but I want you to know what we plan for you first and foremost.”

Luke looked at him, his eyes full of hunger and desire, because he could see their album, hear the crowds and smell the tour bus. He had known this hunger, but never had he known it quite like now.

Willie placed another card down. “Listen, I’m heading to New York for a few weeks. Give yourself a chance to discuss everything, and give me a call, but if you don’t, I will be calling you the moment I land,” he assured, winking at them, but more at Alex than the three of them.

When he left, Luke openly glared at Julie. “What is your problem?” he hissed at her, but Alex hit his shoulder.

“Dude, she’s right. We don’t know what we’re doing, and it can’t be just about the music. They could take everything from us.”

Julie sat straighter, having backup. Even Reggie nodded in agreement.

“And where do we get the money, Alex?”

“My dad knows a guy,” Julie assured, gathering up the papers, then looked at Alex and smiled her thanks and he grinned back. A truce of sorts.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Willie stood nervously in front of Caleb’s office, pumping himself up before entering. Caleb was standing, facing a window that overlooked the LA skyline, not even turning when the door opened.

“How did it go, William?” he asked and Willie grinned.

“Great, actually. They’ll be in touch. They’re eager, and I can’t even imagine the material they have!” he enthused, then straightened when Caleb turned to him.

The older man smiled, and Willie relaxed slightly. “Good. Good,” he praised, moving to stand in front of the younger man, patting him on the shoulder. “And I trust you’re already for your trip?”

“Yeah. I told them to call me, but I’m going to book a meeting for them when I get back.”

Caleb gave him a genuine smile. When Willie left, Caleb touched the gold plaque on his desk, grinning to himself as he turned back towards the window, the plan already setting in motion.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** I have no excuses, nothing to say for myself, we just know we’re on the Titanic and clinging for dear life at this point! Thank you for everyone who is reading, I love you. As always, this is dedicated to Halle and Terri, whom I love to torture with these things. Thank you, Halle for allowing me to bitch about my writing and Terri for letting me bitch in general. I love you all!

**Disclaimer:** Julie and the Phantoms is not mine, but Kenny Ortega’s. That means all of Caleb’s bullshit is at the fault of Kenny Ortega and not me. I’m just an innocent in all of this.


	10. x.

**x.**

* * *

**May 2021**

Nick’s parents weren’t home and that didn’t worry her, her nervousness was beyond a quiet house and her boyfriend’s cooking. Okay, Nick was a decent cook. He could make the best omelettes and his panini game was strong, but Julie couldn’t even process the idea of food and a quiet night of Netflix and maybe some making out, but those plans had evaporated this morning as she’d gripped her dresser, knowing deep in her gut what she _had_ to do.

Julie didn’t want to date Luke.

Or maybe she did, she didn’t really know.

All she knew was that if she was questioning Nick, she was wasting his time. Luke was her band mate first; her first priority was to Julie and the Phantoms, anything more just made her feel lost and uncertain. Julie wasn’t naive, though. As we have stated before, Julie was a practical girl and she knew she and Luke had... well, they had an interesting little relationship, and that alone told her that Nick deserved more - no, the blonde boy deserved the world, and he’d find it with or without Julie beside him, just as she’d find her own path.

Ringing the bell, she didn’t even wait all of a minute before the door swung open revealing him, casually dressed and smiling as he kissed her chastely on the lips. “Okay, I get that the phrase ‘Netflix and chill’ is the new age lingo for sex, but if you have any love in your heart for me you will allow a Back to the Future marathon! You still haven’t seen the last one, for whatever reason, and I feel like tonight is the night to rectify that!”

His eagerness made Julie’s heart twist, because he was so sweet, so right for when she needed him, probably for when Carrie needed him, too. Doing this really killed her…

Julie touched his hand gently, “Yeah. Can we just talk first?”

Nick looked at her and she knew he knew, probably knew when they hung up hours ago, but he nodded, leading her to the couch. Sitting down, he waited patiently for Julie to organize her thoughts, his body tensed but determined to be expressionless, no judgement just prepared for the worst, hoping for the best.

Julie let out a breath. “I do love you,” she began quietly and he nodded.

“I know you do,” he said gently, squeezing a hand that was knotted to a fist at her knee, she relaxed it, letting theirs intertwine.

“You where there for me, that whole time you were right there beside me, and you need to know how grateful I am.” He began to speak, but Julie shook her head. “No, I need you to hear this. Please,” they looked at one another and he shut his mouth, waiting. Julie took in a breath, “You and Flynn, my dad and brother, you all helped me survive this. You let me cry on your shoulder, you gave me happiness when I needed it, and I’m so fucking grateful,” her throat caught on a thousand tiny memories, tears filled her eyes and she looked away. “I can’t do this to you, and I won’t.” Her voice broke and Nick pulled her into his arms.

“Julie,” he whispered into her hair, rubbing her back. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Julie shook her head, pulling back and rubbing her face. Nick looked sad, like he was holding himself together by flimsy pieces, but he also looked like a man who accepted his fate as he sat beside her. “You’re back into music,” he said quietly. “I thought you had truly let that bit of you go, but they helped you bring it back, and if I’m the odd one out I think that’s a small price to pay,” he said reaching to brush away stray tears.

Julie shut her eyes, a fresh wave crashing into her, “How can you be so nice about this?” She wasn’t incredulous, just heartbroken and tired, and she hadn’t even wanted to give the question a voice, it had just sprung out and beyond herself.

Nick gave her a sad smile and shrugged, “You were my friend before this, and you’ll be my friend after.” Because for Nick Evans, it _was_ that simple. It made Julie smile, because he gave without thought. He wasn’t perfect, but what did that matter if you always put your best foot forward?

“I know when I broke up with Carrie, she didn’t believe that,” and Julie flinched of the memory. She could still here the slap, feel the stinging of her cheek and she looked away. “But you and I were always friends first, and I’ve always been sorry about that. I would’ve supported you whether we dated or not. I support you, and I support your music, and to be honest, I saw you guys perform and I want that for you. I’m your friend first, and I don’t know if that was the wrong foot forward, but it’s true.”

Julie gave him a watery smile, her heart aching. “You really are one of the best people I ever met.” He grinned at that and took her hand.

“I don’t know the normal way of a breakup, since Carrie all but through me out, but I’m not letting you leave hungry and uncultured!”

Julie laughed, wiping her eyes as she followed him, squeezing his hand and praying that he knew how much that small act of kindness meant to her.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Luke lay in his bunk, listening to the boys breathe - his family; his chosen family.

All he could do was think of Willie’s offer: tours across America, Europe, Asia - an album, he thought of picking music, writing the music, the cover art, hell he even had a font in mind! But mostly, he thought of going home, the album in hand. He imagined his mother’s scent; her lavender soap, the fabric softener she used, and he imagined how tight he’d hold her as he begged for her forgiveness, how he’d hold his dad and vow to be the man they knew he could be, but his own way. He’d give them the money, he’d buy them a new house - a car, anything if it meant they’d forgive and accept him.

He thought of Alex, homeless and bound to no one but two sisters he’d hardly spoken to in two years. Olivia was still young, almost eleven, and Luke knew he’d gone to watch her soccer practices, her games, unable to really talk to her. The one time he’d tried, his dad had threatened him - Mr Mercer would’ve punched his only son for talking to his sister, he’d called Alex _that_ word, and Alex had stayed hidden in the shadows, crying about it to no one.

Jane had come around often because she was older and had the freedom, but it was hard for Alex. He never talked about it. Despite being called “the emotional one”, Alex always endured in a way Luke could never imagine. The blonde drummer would keep his head high, no matter what people said or did, he always made it through with no complaint, only whining about the mundane things that seemed insurmountable to what he’d been though.

Jane Mercer tried to understand her brother. She looked at him with compassionate eyes, but she didn’t understand why he wouldn’t just appease his parents, come home. Luke knew Alex resented her for that. Like he said, he was done hiding. If his parents love was so conditional, why should he want it?

Then there was Reggie… His sweet, naive friend who had more burden than the world could’ve possibly imagined. With his parents splitting, he, too was homeless, but Luke felt it better for him to be homeless than go back.

“Maybe with my share of the money, they won’t divorce!” Reggie had said with the sad optimism Reggie always taken, because Reggie always looked for the best in things, it was how he survived.

They _needed_ this, more desperately then Julie with her big house and nice apartment. It wasn’t fair, but life wasn’t fair! They were three men struggling to make it month to month, and while Julie’s life hadn’t been a walk in the park, when the hell had she had to endure that?

Groaning quietly, he jumped down from his bunk and put on his shoes. Sure, this neighborhood wasn’t ideal for walking at three in the morning, but nothing was ever perfect. Putting on his hoodie, he grabbed his keys and began to walk. His mind reeled from thoughts about the band, to Willie’s offer, his boys, and then Julie.

_Julie…_

Needless to say, things hadn’t calmed between them. In fact, after Willie left, they had gotten into an argument over what she’d sad. A lawyer… As if they even had the fucking luxury of buying food and paying rent at the same time, but sure, he’d pick up the phone and get Morgan and Morgan to hook him up, no problem. What would that be? The next ten years of rent and food, maybe even the van.

Julie had stormed off angrily and Alex had hit him upside the head as Flynn glared at him, following Julie out. Needless to say, Luke was now afraid of Flynn breaking in and harming him. But he digressed, didn’t Julie see _this_ was it? This is what he’d worked for - what _they’d_ all worked for!

He kicked a rock, hearing it skip down the sidewalk and sighed, feeling the card in his pocket. Pulling it out, he looked at it. This was a band decision… Luke knew that, he did. He was not the leader, they made decisions together, but…

All he could think of was going home, CD in hand. It’s all he fucking wanted to do, and if he called now it’d be six in the morning and he had the nerve…

When he got the voicemail, he sighed and then forced a smile, “Hey, Willie, it’s Luke from Julie and the Phantoms…”

**.**

**.**

**.**

He wasn’t proud of himself when he pocketed his phone, roaming the neighborhood some more. It was wrong, but it was just a meeting. He’d read the contract, maybe Julie could get her dad’s lawyer friend for free, and maybe Luke’s rich grandma would kick the bucket - life was a risk worth taking, and this was his dream.

Still, he knew it was wrong. He knew Julie would be pissed, and it wasn’t like they were on sturdy ground to begin with. Sighing, he ran a hand down his face and glowered at the road. Julie… No! He did it for himself, for Alex and for Reggie, Julie could understand that, right? She had music back, and without all the bells and whistles she’d be happy, content with the life she’d lead in the music program at UCLA. She’d have a successful life whether she signed a contract or not. They, however, would not. Luke was at the end of his rope, they all were, and they were the ones without options.

_It’s just a meeting,_ he thought to himself. _We’ll meet and read the contract…_

He was lying to himself, and he knew that. He couldn’t speak for Alex and Reggie, but there was no scenario he could be put in where he wouldn’t sign a dotted line.

_“They could take the rights to everything, wipe us clean!”_ That had been Julie’s argument, but Luke had scoffed stubbornly, but now the thought made his body clam up. If someone did that and his legacy was stolen, what would he even do then?

Shaking his head, he gritted his teeth together. _It’s just a meeting and a reading of the contract, we won’t do anything else!_

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Reggie had woken up when he heard Luke put his shoes on, but he had feigned sleep until the front door closed. He had always been a light sleeper. It’s what happened when you lived in a house of tension: sleep never came easy, and that night sleep had been restless at best. His dreams had been plagued by fears, they weaved from scenarios of his parents divorcing, of him finding no way to keep them together. He would’ve done anything for the money a tour would give them, a sold out album…

Luke had said the band wasn’t about the money, but Reggie wasn’t _that_ naive. Everything always involved money, even the end of his parents marriage.

Sighing, he got up. There was no use laying there, and he shut the bedroom door behind him and turned on the tv, lowering the volume. He didn’t really watched it, just lay on the couch thinking of everything.

Seamus, his older half brother, was even worse off than he was in Seattle, and Tillie, his older sister, had hardly cared when he’d tried to talk to her. Rubbing his face, he tried to exercise from his mind that money could fix all their problems. He didn’t even want it for himself, because he was fine - he’d survive, but if they had it then maybe, just maybe…

Wiping his eyes, he sat up and decided to make coffee because that’d cheer him up, and when Luke got back the three of them could have coffee and talk about this…

Reggie knew Julie had been right. Julie had really nothing to lose, but she had looked at the situation with clarity. Even Alex, who usually had a practical measure to him, had been dazzled by both Willie and the deal. Turning on the coffee pot, he sighed through his nose and went to his jacket to pull out the card, twirling it between his fingers.

_When Luke gets home,_ he told himself, _we’ll talk._

Propping the card up on the coffee machine, Reggie opened his phone and glanced through the texts from his family and sighed, shutting his eyes, begging for the strength he never seemed to find, and then the door opened and he and Luke locked eyes with one another. Luke gave him a guilty look and Reggie gestured at the machine. “I made coffee,” he said and pouring them both a cup and heading over to the couch, where the TV still on was long forgotten.

Luke took his cup gratefully and began drinking slowly. Reggie sat his on the table, glancing at the TV without seeing it.

“I called Willie,” Luke admitted and Reggie turned his head back, nodding slowly.

“I kind of figured by the look on your face,” he said softly.

“I’m sorry,” Luke said with a sigh, holding his cup between his hands and looking into it.

“I’m not,” he admitted.

Luke looked at him with that same pitying look Reggie had grown to resent and he turned off the TV, setting the remote beside his mug, he stood up. “We need the money… I need that money,” he said and Luke sighed.

“Yeah, we do.”

“And Julie?”

Luke could only shrug.

“Well we better hope her dad’s friend owes him a pretty big favor,” he said tonelessly before heading into the bathroom, deciding he’d shower and clear his thoughts. _If I do this,_ he thought to himself _, they won’t divorce and everything will be fine. If they have some money, they won’t fight this time. I know they won’t._ And with that, he turned on the shower and waited for the water to warm.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** I can’t believe I’ve written 10 chapters this fast. I can’t believe I have any of this written, and that’s truly all I have to say about that! Anyways, is Luke wrong? Yes. But desperate measures, beggars can’t be choosers, all that jazz! Anyways, Nick is a good guy, if you came here for the Nick bashing show, it was canceled because that man is my son and how dare you! Anyways, I love all you guys and thank you for reading, Halle and Terri this is to you both, as always thank you for letting me vent my frustrations of the 2020 era, love you both for that!

**Disclaimer:** It’s Kenny Ortega’s world, and we’re both just waiting for Netflix to get their shit together and give us season two.


	11. xi.

**Author's Note:** Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse. Please read with caution! While I briefly glazed over two moments of domestic abuse in Reggie's backstory, I truly caution anyone with the trigger to either proceed with caution or skip to the June date. I love you all and anything written can be summarize if it's a trigger topic. I love you all!

* * *

**xi.**

* * *

**February 2020**

They had been fighting, but they were always fighting. Naturally, Reggie had blamed himself, despite the argument or any before and after had _never_ been his fault. But that fact didn’t matter to him. Despite being the youngest Peters’ sibling, his shoulders held the heaviest burden.

Putting the headphone’s that his older sister Tillie had given him that Christmas (the ones he’d never asked for, but especially never his parents); they were bulky and pricey, and when Tillie had pressed them into his hands, she’d said, “For when things get hard.” Christmas had been in her apartment near campus, because like everything at their house, Christmas had never been a fun time. There had never been a Santa Claus or a day of family love and cheer, no traditions; just fighting. Always fighting.

Reggie treated these headphones with love as he put on death metal - a choice not many would associate with the boy if they got to know him, but it drowned out the screams as he went into his closet and began putting new strings on his bass, just waiting it out the way he always did.

Reggie knew he could go to Luke and Alex’s if he wanted to. They often begged him to without real reason, they just worried about him. Just like in his own family, between the boys, he was the youngest. Their little brother to protect because they had the strength to, but Reggie felt a sense of duty - it had been the purpose of his birth: keep his parents together.

This particular night was worse. Their shouts seemed to shake the walls, crack the windows; it tore at Reggie’s soul and he dropped his bass, pressing his hands to the headphones covering his ears and willed himself to mentally escape.

When he had been young, his earliest memory of this being three, Tillie, who had been five at the time, would have him hide with her in her closet, lights off and she’d tell him stories or they’d watch movies on the “fucking iPad” as their father called it - he’d escape into a land of make believe. Nothing bad existed in that land, he and his family were happy… whole. But this night, he couldn’t escape it and he sobbed, begging for them to stop as if he were three again. He prayed, yearned, bargained - anything he could do just so it could be over.

Many times over the years, Tillie would often voice her wishes of their divorce. “I wish they’d done it years ago, it’s fucked up!” she’d told him once, sort of drunk and waving her cigarette around as she vented her grievances.

Seamus, their older half brother, was now was twenty-three, and he had never liked his stepfather. Craig Peters had never hit his stepson, but Seamus knew that he would have very much have liked to. Seamus, who had been high out of his mind with a then ten year old Reggie had once said his dad probably wanted to beat them all, the same way their mother wanted to beat him. Somehow, the fights of seventeen plus years had never resulted into blows. Eloise and Craig Peters would throw things, and one of the times a rogue vase had hit Reggie in the head resulting in stitches, but that never stopped them - not ever. But now, the tides had changed.

Eloise’s scream was more from shock than anything else, but somehow Reggie had heard it. It had ricocheted inside of him, and when he went to the aftermath of this war his mother was clutching her chin, glaring up at her husband with hate.

How he had ended up with Luke and Alex after that was beyond him. He didn’t even know how he ended up in his parents kitchen to see the aftermath of a twenty year war, let alone be sobbing in Luke’s lap as Alex and Luke tried to soothe him as if he were a child.

“You have to move in, Reggie, you can’t keep living like this! It’s killing you!” Reggie wouldn’t deny that - it was killing him.

“But they’re my parents,” he’d sobbed, clinging onto the hope that this was a mistake, a blip, but he knew bone deep that this was the end and he had failed.

“You didn’t fail, man,” Seamus said casually on the phone the next morning. Reggie hadn’t told his brother about his dad hitting their mother, knowing Seamus would drive down from Seattle and kill him. It was an accident, and like Seamus had once said, Eloise had wanted to hit Craig, too. It made Reggie uneasy, making these excuses, but his weakness was that he _had_ to see the good. “It’s for the best, the whole thing is fucked up and you living alone with it, I’ve never fucking liked it.”

Seamus O’Malley had been born when Eloise was sixteen, she hadn’t met Craig yet, and wouldn’t until working as a cashier at the grocery store. Craig had been older, twenty-four to Eloise’s twenty and when she’d gotten pregnant with Tillie, they had gotten married. Reggie was a Hail Mary because the marriage, built on some good sex and allure of a forbidden romance, they had stayed for the kids (alimony is expensive, okay). Reggie knew without a doubt just what his half brother had been itching to do, because sometimes a toxic home is like a disease and it’s easy to catch.

When the brothers hung up, Reggie had sat on the couch with his head in his hands, Luke and Alex sharing looks, unsure what to do or how to help.

“I think you should stay, Reg. If it’s becoming violent, I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Alex said gently, touching him lightly and pulling back when Reggie flinched away. It made Reggie angry, but it wasn’t really at Alex, it wasn’t even at himself.

“They’ll work through it,” he said, because that’s what he always said, but _they_ had to. Right?

Luke and Alex exchanged more looks and Luke tried, taking a more pragmatic approach. “Well we could use a third, and it’s not _really_ a betrayal. You spend a majority of your time here, anyway. It’d be easier to write songs, faster than waiting to be free to either come here or Bobby’s,” he had said with a casual shrug.

Reggie mulled that over and by the next day he’d reluctantly agreed because Tillie forced his hand.

“Reginald,” she said sternly and he’d sat up straighter at the stern use of his full name, “if you don’t leave that fucking house, I’ll take you from it myself, legally or not.”

Reggie tried not to think of the collapse of his parents marriage without him as the reluctant buffer. A year later, and it was official: they’d divorce.

Failure.

He was supposed to save them, and he failed.

“Don’t be stupid, Reg,” Tillie had said when he voiced it to her at her place over takeout Chinese. “You know what two fucked up people shouldn’t do? Have more kids.” Then she paled, “But I am glad they had you, you know that right?”

Reggie had bit his lip, holding back emotion and he lied with a nod. “I know, Til,” he said and she gave him a small smile.

“You’re the best thing from that, Reg, believe me. Mom and dad are two miserable people… They should’ve done this years ago.”

He’d looked away, shoving his plate away. “If they had money they wouldn’t do this.”

Tillie hardly looked convinced, but what difference did the truth make? “Yeah. Sure, Reg,” she said with an appeasing smile.

He’d put his chin in his hand. “If the band makes it big, I’ll make it better for them,” he vowed and she patted his back.

“Reggie, sometimes you’re way too good to have come from them,” she’d said before shoveling dim sum into her mouth.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

**June 2021**

He nearly had his face pressed to the glass as he took in the view of Caleb Covington’s office, his eyes wide with childlike wonder as he looked at the LA Skyline. Behind him, Julie was fidgeting with the end of her skirt as the man beside her, Boris Schwartz, sat beside her staring at his phone with intensity.

Julie and Luke were refusing to speak to one another, meanwhile Alex was talking animatedly with Willie.

Reggie turned back to his bandmates, “I can’t believe this view,” he breathed and Julie smiled at him as he sat beside her in awe because he simply couldn’t believe _this._ This moment felt so far beyond his reach, despite knowing their talent, this didn’t happen to boys like him.

“When Mr Covington comes in, it’s best you let me do the talking,” Borris deadpanned from beside Julie, not even bothering to look up from his phone. Julie nodded in agreement and Luke glowered, his arms crossed tight so his biceps bulged from under his nice coat.

Reggie’s mouth was open in a perfect o, but he shrugged, deciding if Ray Molina trusted Borris, then he trusted Borris.

Luke didn’t hold that sentiment, but neither did Alex, but Alex liked having a lawyer. He sucked at understanding law jargon.

“You guys, we never even read the Terms and Conditions, there’s no way you’re going to read an entire contract to make sure we’re not getting screwed over,” Alex had said when they’d discussed it in Julie’s studio.

“Exactly! Thank you, Alex,” Julie had snapped.

God, Luke telling Julie just what he’d done hadn’t been pretty. To say Julie had been pissed was an understatement.

“So let me get this straight,” she’d said, voice taught and arms crossed, eyes heated with fury. “We’re a band and it’s all group decisions, but we don’t get to discuss this.” With her chin jutted up towards Luke she had said, “It’s nice to know what kind of band we are.”

Looking at the three of them, she had left the studio, anger painting her feelings of hurt and betrayal. To Julie, it was the three of them versus her, even if that wasn’t the case. Not really. Later when they’d talked again, Julie had given a harsh laugh in Luke’s face. “Yeah, it’s all about the music and not the money, right?” Luke had looked like she struck him and it had been his turn to leave the studio, slamming the door so hard behind him that dust had fallen from the rafters and the windows had shaken.

It had taken Alex, Reggie and three meat lovers pizzas to come to a sort-of compromise. Borris owed Ray a favor - but he’d only do this once for “little Julie Molina”, and Luke could have his meeting.

Having one offer on the table scared Julie, but she didn’t know why. Practicality reasons, really. According to Holmes on Homes, you always wanted three options to have a good compromise, but Julie felt like this was all too fast, too easy - too good to be true. The boys, however, saw an opportunity. She didn’t begrudge them that, she didn’t! Julie knew almost nothing about them, but she knew that life must be dire if they were going to jump at the first chance they got.

“Stop looking at me like that!” Julie snapped at Luke, looking up to give him a heated look, Luke scowled at her, turn away.

“Don’t fight, I can’t listen to it anymore!” Alex pleaded, glancing at Willie who raised an eyebrow and Alex shook his head, because he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Glancing at Reggie, Alex shot Luke a glare because Luke knew better, Luke glared back before huffing irritably then gave a dirty look to Borris, who was still obliviously reading his phone.

It wasn’t what they’d call the bands finest hour, and Alex could see Willie’s worry as he watched them, then turned to look at the door.

Caleb wasn’t late, but he was cutting it close.

“Like I said, it’s just a meeting. Nothing said here is set in stone, we don’t even have to negotiate. It’s just options.”

Borris looked up and appraised Willie, then gave a disbelieving sniff before going back to his phone. Willie’s face went red, but Alex gave him an embarrassed smile.

“Sorry about the band drama,” he muttered and Willie gave him a smile.

“I guess if this is my future profession I better get used to all you divas,” he teased.

Speaking of divas, at that moment, Caleb had entered. Caleb Covington was tall, but while his height would catch peoples’ eye, it was the way he dressed that was the real show stopper. Caleb was a flare for the drama in three piece suits in purples, blacks and reds, he always had nice shoes and there was something otherworldly about him that was timeless. It awed Willie, and it awed the band. Just not Borris, and Alex decided that Ray Molina might’ve been onto something with him.

Introductions were made as Caleb was introduced, shaking everyone’s hand and he produced a stack of papers that he’d handed to Borris who began pouring over it with a pen.

“I’ve been eager to meet you,” Caleb said as he sat behind his desk, appraising them. His eyes lingered on Julie and then the boys, and Julie shifted uncomfortable as she eyed her oblivious bandmates. Maybe she was just paranoid. She had to be!

**.**

**.**

**.**

Borris was slashing through points, making notes and giving monosyllabic commentary. He made a lot of haughty “ha’s!” that didn’t make Julie feel better as his pen crossed out and revised something, and she felt her spidey senses on high alert. Luke, however was glaring at Borris and then Julie.

_Idiot!_ Julie thought haughtily, resisting the urge to cross her arms. The fact that Caleb was feet from her made her uneasy and she didn’t know why the three boys, not including Willie, didn’t feel the hairs stand on end.

In her mind, all she could hear was the narrator of Madeline saying Miss Clavel was waking up going, “Something is not right!” She couldn’t explain it. He wasn’t luring or being a creep, it was just the air around her felt distrustful, unlike with Willie. Julie turned to look at the long haired brunette, sitting beside Alex, eagerly listening to Caleb talk about the plans they had.

_Too good to be true,_ Julie thought as Borris made another slash. When the man finished and looked up, he interrupted Caleb with little to not care.

“This is adequate, but I have to say the pay could be better,” the man said, dropping the contract on Caleb’s desk. Caleb looked at it, then smiled, laughing.

“I can see what we can do for you and your clients, Mr Schwartz!” he said jovially, skimming the places Borris had revised for the band.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Alex felt eager, but anxious. Though, admittedly he was always anxious. It was just his default setting. But being beside Willie calmed him, gave him a center.

“So how did you even get into this job?” he asked the boy as they ate hot dogs from a vendor on the street. They had broke for lunch, and Willie had singled Alex out much to the blonde’s delight.

Willie laughed, “Would you be satisfied with the fact that it was pure nepotism. My cousin runs a DJ company under the company’s umbrella and he got me an internship. Caleb is taking a major chance on me,” he admitted with pride.

Alex beamed, “That’s truly incredible, even for nepotism’s sake.”

Willie grinned, “I just worked my ass off to keep the job, if you guys sign, I say it all paid off in the end.”

Alex nodded, but looked away. “Julie is the wild card here.”

Willie also nodded in agreement, “And Borris, he’s a character.”

“A friend of Julie’s dad,” Alex admitted before taking a bite.

“Oh. Well, that figures. Believe me, though, I’m unbiased. If you don’t sign with us, I still see you being signed somewhere soon. You guys are fucking talented.”

Alex chewed and nodded before swallowing, “It’s good ole fashioned talent,” he joked and Willie laughed.

“I won’t deny you guys that,” he said, chewing his own food and thinking. “Caleb really wanted you guys as Sunset Curve, I think. I don’t know, it’s just crazy how it all kind of worked out, you know?”

Alex nodded, though red faced because that was crazy. Small world, he supposed, like with Nick, Julie and Carrie. LA was getting smaller by the day if the odds were this good.

“Well, for what it’s worth I hope it goes in the way of your favor,” he said and paled. That was a stupid thing to say, even if he meant it.

Willie grinned. “I do too. I like the company,” he said and looked Alex in the eyes and the blonde felt butterflies explode.

Wetting his lips, Alex looked away, face red from neck to hairline, but he gave a small grin. “Yeah, the company here is great too.”

**.**

**.**

**.**

Julie sat in a boardroom, her eyes glued on her phone. She needed to talk to Flynn, but she couldn’t explain these feelings and she wished her mother was there, physically, not just in spirit. She wanted her mother to rub her shoulders, kiss her forehead and tell her what to do, tell her if this instinct was right or wrong.

When the door opened, she looked up and saw Luke who was frowning at her. He shut the door, but neither said anything.

“I’m not trying to be difficult,” Julie said by way of breaking the silence and Luke scoffed. She deepened her frown, her eyes narrowed at him. “You know, this isn’t all about _you_ , Luke.”

“And it’s not only about _you_ , Julie,” he sneered back in a mocking tone.

Julie’s eyes flashed and she stood up, getting as close to his face as she could. “You know, we have options. We could continue with playing the strip, having our Spotify, doing this the normal way. Jumping head first into our first and _only_ option is stupid. I’m the youngest one in the room, but you are all acting like idiots.”

Luke’s own eyes flashed, “You know what? I worked my ass off for this, I paid my dues, Julie.”

“And I didn’t?” she snapped, beyond offended.

Luke softened, because what he was going to say was mean. True, but mean. “You took a year off, Julie. We had to scrape by waiting our time for another chance. Don’t you think we all deserve this?”

Julie bristled. “Don’t you dare - don’t you fucking dare throw that in my face!” Her face was red, if steam could have come from her ears, it would’ve been now. Her fists curled and she moved closer to him. “I didn’t sit home and fucking knit, Luke. Don’t act like I went off on some free for all vacation while you three slaved away, we all suffered. Don’t you throw what I went threw at me like it was nothing. God, fuck you!”

Luke looked away. “Don’t act like you understand where the three of us are coming from, because you don’t know.”

“Oh, and that’s my fault?” she scoffed at him. “I won’t listen to your martyr bullshit - I won’t! You are the loudest one here. You always talk about how the money doesn’t matter and it’s about the music and the legacy, but look at you now,” she said with a sneer.

Luke looked at her, a quiet fury burned so deep that Julie moved away because she really had never seen Luke angry. “It’s not about the money. Not for me. Not now, not fucking ever. Don’t you dare act like you know me like that,” he snarled. “This _is_ about our legacy. It’s about being known. It’s about being remembered, so that all this shit wasn’t for nothing,” he said quietly, anger pouring off him.

“If that’s the case, why can’t we look at our options!”

Luke looked at her, then he turned and put his hand on the door knob. “You wouldn’t understand,” he said, hurt evident in his voice before leaving, closing the door behind him.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** Haha we love drama! So I made a playlist for this story, because yes I am That Bitch™️. You can listen to it [**here**](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3K2oYQqnGCJs4lSYMoHiUP?si=8A6Yy5zhQj2H5WpFsUuSHg). As always, thank you for reading. Halle and Terri, thank you for caring about me. Love you all!

**Disclaimer:** JATP is Kenny and Netlix’s property.


	12. xii.

**xii.**

* * *

**June 2021**

Surprisingly, it’s Boris that convinces Julie to sign that night at dinner. Carlos is at a sleepover, so it’s just Borris, Ray, Julie and Tia Victoria — oh, and Tia’s arroz con pollo. Julie gapes at Borris openly, confused and her mind reeling.

“But — but you crossed so much out!” she points out feeling downright incredulous as she looks at the older man.

He waves his fork at her. “My dear, if this industry will teach you _anything_ , it’s never settle. A company will _never_ put its best foot forward, and they _want_ you. I like aggressive negotiations,” he concludes simply as he shoves a forkful into his mouth.

Ray contemplates this. Now, Ray Molina is not a naive man, but his contracts are always more straight forward. He’s a professional photographer, it’s as cut and dry as it can go, and he trusts Boris’s judgement. Victoria, however, like Julie, is more suspicious.

“Does that happen often?” Victoria asks, her eyes narrowed at the older man, brow raised.

“A big corporation taking advantage of the little man?” he states, raising a brow of his own. “Quite often.

Julie is frowning at her plate, unsure. Her mind is on the boys, specifically Luke.

_“You wouldn’t understand.”_ No, Julie didn’t understand, but she trusted Willie, and trusted her band, and they’d been backed by an actual lawyer.

Neither she or Victoria can find an argument, but Julie has one condition: Flynn continues being their social media manager. Flynn was perfect at the job, and Julie didn’t trust anyone else to be even half as good. Boris says he’ll add it to the contract, they shake on it.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Luke is the first to sign. He confidently loops out his name in black ink, his signature is barely legible (the boy really had horrible handwriting), but he’s smiling as he hands the pen to Alex. When Alex’s name is glaring back against white paper, he flashes a smile to Willie, feeling lighter than he ever had before. Julie is surprised when Reggie hesitates, looking over his shoulder at her for only a second before taking a breath and signing.

Julie takes the pen when the doe-eyed boy hands it to her. She hesitates, and she realizes she’s looking for a sign. Julie thinks about Rose behind the piano, the sunlight casting a glow on her as she plays, then Julie looks at her bandmates. With a trembling hand, she signs _Julie R Molina_ and looks at her name with finality as Caleb grins.

“Excellent!” The enthusiasm makes off of them smile, even Boris (who decided during dinner, and Julie is a hundred percent convinced that it was Tia’s cooking — but he decided out of interest to dis this discounted till the band’s ship comes in. “Eh, I really wed you,” was the response he’d given Ray upon the decision). Caleb pulls out sparkling cider and they toast to Julie and the Phantoms, and Julie and Luke share a look before she puts the glass to her lips, giving him a small smile.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Caleb gives them four months to produce an EP. “To test the waters,” he’d said. “Let them sample. A full album should take a year.”

A year. Luke hadn’t expected it to take that long, especially if he worked with Julie.

The two hard hardly spoken to one another in the weeks since Nick, and then their heated conversation in the board room, but now she sat on the floor across from the couch he sat on, sifting through her dream box she’d brought down, hoping to find something in the chaos.

Luke was tense, pick in his mouth as he read a scrap of paper, foot tapping restlessly.

Julie had a glitter pen in hand, writing in a sequin covered journal pretending to be oblivious. Neither knew how to breach the elephant in the room.

Sifting through more scraps, he says something but it’s muffled by the pick. She looked up and gave him a stern look. “Excuse me?”

Luke removes the pick. “These are really good, Jules.”

_Jules…_ Her heart flutters as she tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Thanks,” she says with a red face and risks glancing up at him. Luke is reading the tiny sheet of paper with a mixture of awe and sadness.

“Nick’s a lucky guy,” he comments in a nonchalant voice, holding up a song Julie vaguely recognizes.

Her face goes redder at that. There hadn’t been time, or even a real reason to relay the breakup to the boys. The concern had been their career, not the romance. Turning her face from him, she tapped her pen against her notebook. “We broke up,” she said and Luke nearly jumped up from the couch with how hard his neck snaps in her direction.

“What? When?!” He asked, seething. If Nick broke up with her, he swore he would —

“I broke up with him… After our meeting with Willie,” she admits sheepishly, her eyes trained at her journal.

Luke’s eyes widen. “What? But that was —“ he tried to calculate the time in his head. Julie blushes harder, fidgeting with her pen.

He looked at her, mouth agape, unsure of what to do with this news.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He sounded so hurt, so… as if she saw him as insignificant.

Julie shrugged. “It wasn’t important. You were mad about me about him, and then at everything else… and I didn’t want to give you the wrong idea of my intentions.”

Luke would have preferred if she would have slapped him. The pain those words caused, they sliced him to his soul. It was worse than a rejection. At least with Nick being her boyfriend there was a reason.

He looked down, ears red as he nodded as he covered his mouth, trying to quell the anger this rejection caused him. Julie owed him nothing, he knew that. They were friends who had a connection and a shared passion of music. Their fate was friendship, and he tried to remind himself that her being in his life was more important than anything else. This was enough.

Julie looked up at him, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip, eyes unsure. “I do love Nick,” she said and this caused Luke to flinch. “But I’m not the girl I was. I haven’t felt this alive in so long, and _you_ gave that back to me. You, Alex and Reggie gave this back to me, and I’m so grateful to you guys. I need to find this new version of me; I want to find myself again.”

Luke looked at her, then he gave her a playful smirk. “We do have an interesting little relationship, huh?”

Julie brightened, then they sat silently for a moment as she concentrated on the scattered thoughts she’d jotten down in glittery pink ink. “When I’m ready, you’ll be the first to know.”

Luke looks up at that, and then a smile splits his face. “Okay… Boss,” he added teasingly, laughing as she tosses her pen at him. He dodges it easily and hands it back to her as he slides to the floor.

He knew without a doubt he could wait.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Julie isn’t really surprised that Alex and Reggie can sing, but she is surprised at just how could they are. Especially Alex.

Alex has an operatic voice that touches Julie deep, and once she learns this she is constantly on him to sing.

“C’mon, Alex! Please!” she begs, following him into the studio. He’s trying desperately to ignore her, but Reggie is egging her on.

“Stay out of this, _Reginald_!” Alex snarls, but there is no bite to his words.

“I think you should both sing in this song,” Julie argued, moving in front of Alex with a grin. “I think it’d be more impactful.”

Alex rolls his eyes, but he’s being insecure. He doesn’t hate singing, but he prefers the drums; the drums are his comfort zone.

Luke eagerly agrees and Alex glares at him. “I’ll think about it, but for now can we work on Bright? I’m tired of it being Pick on Alex Hour,” the tall blonde says.

“Speaking of Pick on Alex Hour,” Luke says, “how is Willie.”

Alex’s blue eyes narrow to slits and he turns from the shorter guitarist. “Anyways, if we’re going to practice!”

Julie, Luke and Reggie share grins and laughs, Alex flips them off as he tunes his drums.

“How many songs should our EP have?” Reggie asks, adjusting the strap of his bass.

“I think it should have thirteen,” Julie says, but Luke glares.

“She’s bound for us to have bad luck,” he says and Julie shakes her head.

“It was my mother’s lucky number, and seven is a holy number, but I know seven songs would be lame.”

Luke softens at that.

“I think we have to go with Rose Molina’s judgment,” Reggie says and Julie tears up, her heart grateful for him as they smile at one another.

Alex nods. “I think we gotta go with lucky number thirteen, Luke.”

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Julie Molina was no cook, so when Luke comes over to work on music and they get hungry, her dad is naturally out with Carlos.

She opens the fridge and there’s nothing but left over pasta and she heaves a sigh. “We could order a pizza,” she suggests, searching the freezer. “Or I could try and make eggs.”

They settle for eggs, because Luke’s money is tight and Julie is sick of pizza and takeout.

“Oh fuck!” Julie swears, the eggs scramble brown and they taste disgusting, but Luke is laughing at her pout.

“No! They’re fine, see!” he says and shovels them in his mouth, holding back a gag as he grabs his mouth, forcing himself to smile. “Delicious!”

Julie glares and takes their plates and throws them in the trash. Luke snorts and gets up, “Allow me.”

**.**

**.**

**.**

“You being able to cook is not fair,” Julie playfully whines as she eats his fluffy eggs and Luke’s hazel eyes twinkle.

“My mom had me cooking with her and my grandma when I was young,” he admitted. Julie is surprised, because Luke never mentions his family.

“My mom tried… Tia’s the real cook of the family, but my mother tried. She could make a few things, but everything she made was so good.” Julie gives a wistful sigh and moves the eggs around the plat with her fork. “I miss her flan. Tia’s tried to recreate it, but it just doesn’t taste the same. I miss her pork, too.”

Luke is giving Julie a sad look and he nods, because there are things he misses about his mom: her turkey pot pie, how everything was semi homemade because these companies spent a lot of money on these recipes, so why try and out do them? He missed his mom playing Phil Collins when she made big feasts, and how she’d homemake him a german chocolate cake.

“I once heard this thing when I was younger, before my mom got sick, and it was always on my mind when she died: if I had one more minute with her, what would I do?” She squares her shoulders, willing herself not to cry. “Sometimes when I think it, I’m glad I never got it. There never be enough time I could spend with her that’d be enough and I wish I knew that then. There’s just never enough time to do or say everything we need to do.” Julie takes in a shaky breath, “I just miss her. All I want is for her to know that I love her, that I’m always going to need her.” She shakes her head, looking at her hands, “I want to be strong enough to do this for her.”

Luke takes her hand, squeezes it because fuck does he understand! His eyes are bright with tears and her looks at her.“We won’t ever let you do this by yourself, Julie. No matter what happens, the four of us are in this together. Just us,” he squeezes her hand again, willing her to know that he is missing his parents, that everything he’s doing is to make them proud, to prove that he can go home even if it’s not as the son they wanted.

Julie looks at Luke, and there’s a moment that she thinks she might kiss him, but they don’t. She’s too vulnerable, too upset and he’s just as raw. When she kisses him, she wants it to be about them, nothing else. She wants gazebos filled with fairy lights, foot popping kisses that light up gardens, fireworks perfectly timed — when she and Luke kiss, she doesn’t want to feel hollow inside, she doesn’t want to use him to fill the void Rose left in her heart.

Squeezing his hand back, she hops up from her chair. “C’mon, we have an EP to write for.”

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Luke brings his notebook filled with old Sunset Curve songs he’d never used, and Julie is itching to go through it.

“I dog eared the ones I think we could rework. They were kind of incomplete.”

Julie flips through and pauses on a song as Luke is pulling on his guitar. Alex and Reggie are there, more than ready as Julie reads the song. “Wow, Luke, I never realized you could be such a romantic.”

Luke turns, giving her a confused look. Luke had written love songs, yeah. _Long Weekend_ had been about Alex, and _Crocked Teeth_ alluded to Reggie and again, _Get Lost_ was about Alex, but those hadn’t been in that notebook.

“ _If you could only know, I’d never let you go_ ,” she read aloud. “That’s beautiful, Luke.”

Alex moves over, “That’s not a —“

“That’s not dogeared,” Luke snaps, interrupting Alex and startling Julie. “That song isn’t anything.” The lie is so easy, and he feels so fucking exposed as Julie hurriedly closes the notebook, her cheeks pink.

“I’m sorry, I just happened to see it.”

Luke snatches it back and opens to a different song. It’s one he hasn’t worked on it since high school, but he knows it could work for Julie and the Phantoms. “Let’s just get started, we have an EP to make,” he says, trying to lighten the mood and Julie nods, unable to look at him.

**.**

**.**

**.**

They’re eating freezies on the beach; a treat for finishing _Bright_ and their unnamed song — Luke wants to call it Fool’s Gold, Julie wants to call it Shooting Star — Alex, however, was glad to call it finished so he could text Willie.

“It’s weird to think in four months, the world could possibly know our name,” Julie says as she looks at the ocean, a wistful look on her face.

Alex follows her gaze. “Yeah, it really fucking does.”

Reggie lays back, “What do you think will happen once we get that famous?”

Julie thinks about it. “My dad will never allow me to get a big head,” she says with a laugh and the guys grin.

Alex looks melancholy as he thinks about it, knowing there’s no money in the world he could have to buy his parents unconditional love, so he shrugs. “I think I’d take my little sister to Disney Land. She’s always bitched about wanting to go, and I think that’s the first thing I’d do.”

Reggie is looking at blue sky, his mind on his parents, but he says, “I’d get that really ritzy pizza that’s, like, two hundred dollars.” Julie laughs at this, shoving him playfully.

Luke, however, says, “I’d put it all towards our tour. Imagine, people singing along and dancing and rocking out to _our_ music.” He has a far away look in his eyes as he grins. “Just even imagining something bigger than the night we played _Now or Never_ to that crowd,” he shivers and Alex playfully rolls his eyes.

Julie genuinely doesn’t know what she wants. She’s lucky: her dad and brother are well off, Tia is a succesful lady who lives in a beautiful house, but she grins. “I think Flynn and I would finally travel. Maybe go to Greece. Or maybe go to Sydney, we used to be obsessed with going there because of this old Mary Kate and Ashley movie. Or maybe Paris. I don’t know, really.”

For Julie, fame had always been abstract, never really touchable. She’d hoped for it, of course, but now it was almost in her reach and it scared her, but it also excited her, too.

“I know we’re far from being done, but I’ve thought of some titles,” Julie admitted to them.

“Well let’s here ‘em, Boss!” Luke says eagerly.

“I thought of Self Titled — like that phrase, not just labeling it _Julie and the Phantoms_. I also liked the idea of calling it _Finally Free_ , but also Rose Vases.”

The boys share a look, and they know — they just know the better option. “I think our first album should be named Rose Vases. We’d dedicate it to her,” Luke says and Julie fights back a wave of tears at that. She wants to kiss him again, but instead the four of them group hug on the beach, a breeze surrounding them as if a blessing and Julie closes her eyes, squeezes them tight because they have her, and with them, she could do literally anything.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** Dear God! I just needed light Juke fluff, I personally think we deserved it after Reggie’s backstory. As always, thank you to those reading, leaving kudos and commenting — your support makes my heart sing and I love you all dearly. Thank you to Halle and Terri, I love you both dearly and you’re basically the reason I cry writing fanfiction about a girl and her ghost himbos, you’re the queens of my world!

**Disclaimer:** NETFLIX, GIVE US A SEASON TWO SO KENNY CAN SHOW US THE LGBT+ AGENDA VIA JATP, THANKS! Also, it’s Kenny’s world, I just cry in it.


	13. xiii.

**xiii.**

* * *

**July 2021**

Flynn Jameson had always loved theater. When she’d been three she’d watch things like The King and I, Mama Mia, Hairspray — she once even got to play Little Inez Subbs in the community theater her sophomore year of high school, but her favorite thing she’d ever done was play Molly from Annie.

Everyone had wanted to be Annie: Spunky, optimistic, the star; but Flynn had loved Molly, Molly was considered a side kick at best, but Flynn had some of the best moments, in her humble opinion. Molly had the best song, if she were being honest, and Molly was simply the cutest. Flynn had never had confidence issues, so her twirling around on a stage and tap dancing, the spotlight on her, even for a minute opened something up deep inside.

She was an only child, that’s where Julie said her confidence had come from. Flynn’s parents were good people, her dad was a music teacher for a special needs school and her mother was a choreographer and trained cheerleading teams — something Flynn had tried once, but hated with a burning passion. She didn’t care how small she was, no way was she trusting _anyone_ enough to be a flier. She wasn’t stupid!

Flynn’s mother had instilled in her the confidence to go for things, to be proud and love herself, because no one in this life could give you these things. “Baby, the world is going to be cruel to you,” her mother had told her sadly one night as she braided her small daughter’s hair as she cried. It was her first experience with racism, and her mother had held back tears, letting Flynn sob on her lap.

Flynn was four, and she didn’t understand, but someday soon she sadly would.

Softening her fingers through Flynn’s hair, she made tiny rows as the small girl sat, unsure what to do with that cruel fact.

“But what did I do, Mommy?” Flynn asked as she looked behind her, tears in her big brown eyes.

Shutting her own, her mother kissed the crown of her head. “Nothing, Baby. You didn’t do anything to them. People are cruel, people will be cruel, but you will _always_ soar above them. You must _always_ love yourself, Flynn, even more than you love me and daddy.”

When Flynn had met Carrie and Julie, it was true that she and Julie had made a deeper bond. There were just things Carrie didn’t understand and Flynn had never begrudged her that. Carrie did try, though!

Sometimes, Carrie knew to to say the right things. She’d casually compliment Flynn on being pretty, like when Flynn was Cinderella one year for Halloween and the strawberry blonde said that Flynn made colors look ethereal. She had even said Flynn looked like an actual princess, not just a Disney one which Flynn had enjoyed back then. Falling for Carrie, as far as Flynn was concerned, was effortless. Carrie had always just been aggressively herself, and Flynn just had to admire that.

The thing that had always frustrated Flynn about Carrie was she was guarded. Flynn had been Carrie’s friend when her mother had just up and left one day when they were fifteen.

Flynn and Julie _tried_ not to speculate on the why. Carrie was their friend, if she wanted them to know, she’d tell them. Instead, she’d thrown her entire being into music, dancing — determined to be the best, as if that would bring her mother back, and Flynn couldn’t help but think of that when she saw Carrie in line with Kayla and two of her mother Dirty Candi members: Sabrina and Leah, at Java the Cup.

It was midmorning on a Wednesday and it’d been slow, so Flynn was alone, waiting for her afternoon backup. It was a shift Flynn normally hated, but now just didn’t care. This was her last week, and then she’d be free as a bird as far as she was concerned. Well, not free, but it’d be better than slinging coffee, that was for damn fucking sure!

“It’s such bullshit!” the strawberry blonde seethed, unaware of Flynn’s presence — or not caring. Either or wouldn’t surprise the petite black girl as she waited, eyes narrowed on the group of girls. “Julie doesn’t play for a whole fucking year, and now she gets signed! Meanwhile, we work our asses off everyday and get nothing!”

The three girls nodded, not even to appease the angry girl — they were all genuinely pissed.

Admitted, it wasn’t fair, but Flynn didn’t give a fuck about that. Julie deserve it, the boys deserved it — that’s all that mattered to her.

Flynn couldn’t even fake a good customer service smile when the four girls noticed her, instead she narrows her eyes, nostrils flaring and she’s grateful Julie secured her a job because she was sure on the verge of losing this one.

Carrie glares back and saunters forward, unbothered that she’s been caught talking shit. “An extra large quad shot caramel macchiato iced,” she sniffs at Flynn and lets the other three give their orders before slapping her debit card on the counter, her eyes rolling at Flynn’s visible anger.

Flynn slides the card and slaps it back onto the counter, glaring hard as she could.

She wants to punch Carrie, but instead takes the cups and goes to the machines. The girls continue their rant, but Carrie has her arms crossed and eyes narrow, they never leave Flynn. Flynn is focusing on making their drinks, but she knows they’ll taste gross and it’s petty, but hey, it’s all she can do as a minimum wage girl without getting a lawsuit and they do not deserve quality.

Flynn places the poorly made drinks on the counter, her hands on her hips as she looks right at Carrie.

“Just food for thought, maybe you aren’t as good as you think,” Flynn says sweetly.

Carrie’s eyes flash with hurt, then with bitter resentment.

Flynn should’ve foreseen it, but even as she watched it come for her, she didn’t regret it. She would’ve said it again.

If it were anyone else, it would’ve been an accident. Carrie reached for her extra large drink and knocked it into Flynn’s work station; milk, espresso and syrup slatter Flynn’s hair, her face and apron. Milk is pooling into the spoon sink and dripping to the floor, the counter is ruined and Flynn let’s out a shout.

“Oh, opps!” Carrie says, her eyes flashing in victory at the sight of Flynn’s striken face.

Flynn blinked, then bared her teeth. “Oh, fuck you! It must be hard that Daddy’s money can’t buy you fame or talent,” she snarled.

Carrie pales, then goes red face, eyes on fire, but Kayla cuts her off and the look she gives Flynn is scary. “Fuck you!” the girl snarls.

Sabrina knocks her own drink into the fray of Carrie’s, but Flynn moves away in time and meets her eyes with Carrie, who is giving her a murderous look.

“Always the Molly to Julie’s Annie,” she sneered and Flynn sneers back.

“And you’re just another Ariana wannabe, flopping.”

The girls turned, sneers on their lips and eyes blazing as they leave Flynn in her mess, feeling like shit.

That wasn’t fair. Carrie was talented — those girls were talented… Flynn squared her shoulders. _Whatever, they’ll get over it!_ She thought as she began her long, tedious task of cleaning.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Alex waited for Willie at a small cafe, his heart basically in his throat.

He kept telling himself that this _wasn’t_ a date — but if it was, this wasn’t exactly his first rodeo. He and Luke had had the initial awkwardness, because sure, the guitarist could flirt, but he was hardly what anyone would call a smooth operator. Not that Alex was any better, hence the mantra.

Willie was… well needless to say Willie wasn’t Luke. Willie, like Luke, had openly flirted, but Willie was confident in a way neither band member had been. Willie was young, had a place secure in a would-be-successful career and Alex felt different. Like Willie would last, not that this made Luke less to him, but Luke had been a moment Alex had once upon a time. They were better as friends, and god, he wanted Willie…

The thought scared him, but it excited him, too. It was a new beginning…

When Willie showed up, board in hand, Alex’s face brightened into a smile. Willie dropped into the seat across from him, smiling at the blonde drummer.

Alex felt.a flicker of disappointment, but he got it, reminding himself that _this wasn’t a date_.

“Hey,” Willie said, brushing his hair back.

“Hey,” Alex greeted back. _This is not a date. This is not a date. This is not —_

“Did you order anything? I’m starving,” Willie said, breaking Alex from his thoughts where he was totally staring at Willie’s kissable lips.

“Oh, uh, no,” Alex said with a fierce blush as he rubbed the black of his neck. “I decided to just wait.”

_Pull it together, Mercer!_ he shouted at himself.

Willie shoots him a warm smile, his hands come up to lightly grasp Alex’s fidgety ones, rubbing the tops with his thumbs.

“Sorry,” Alex says breathlessly, face bright red and hot, and he wished he hadn’t worn his hat or hoodie.

“Don’t be, I get it.”

Those words fill Alex up, his eyes nearly fluttered close from the pure relief he felt that Willie just understands. Or even if he didn’t, he would want to.

“You’re always so fidgety,” Willie notes, his voice so sweet, just stating a casual observation. “It’s no wonder that you’re such a good drummer.”

Alex’s mouth parts at the compliment. “Really?” he asks in a shy voice and Willie laughs.

“Yeah, man! I really think when all this takes off, you’ll be noted as one of the greats. You tune your drums! I didn’t een know such a thing could be done before, and I’ve had to watch a lot of bands!”

Alex grinned, his ears flaming. “Well, I try,” he said in a puff of nervous laughter that had Willie increasing the pressure in his grasp.

When their waitress come over, the boys order and then sit there in silence for a minute.

“This is okay, right?” Willie asked, eying their hands. Alex nodded, his lips parted but he couldn’t find the words.

He wanted to scream yes — he wanted a dance montage to break out, but instead Willie spoke.

“If I’m not being too obvious about it, Alex, and I know that it’s not professional —“

Alex shot him a confused look. “What does that mean?”

“It means I like you, but I’m also working for you. I know it isn’t really an ideal look for anyone, but especially for us…”

_For us._ The words hit him like a blow to the gut.

“Oh,” he breathed, removing his hands from Willie’s. “Oh!”

He felt hurt by this. Was it rejection, or was it simply worse than that?

“Alex —“

“No, no, I get it,” Alex said, his voice had a slight edge to it. “You have to think about your career, and everything.”

“It’s not as simple as that,” Willie said defensively. “I like you, I do —“

“But we have to keep up appearances,” Alex said stiffly, his eyes on his hands. They still felt warm, tingly as they remembered Willie’s thumbs rubbing them.

“Please, just listen to me. I get how it sounds, I do! But this is a reality, Alex. Not because of _us_ , but because of _this_. I do have a job, Alex. You have to keep that in mind. Hell, _I_ have to keep that in mind.”

“So you could lose your job?” Alex asked dejectedly.

“I could,” Willie stated with a sigh. “Please don’t be mad…”

“I’m not,” Alex said, but picked up his bag and took out some money. “I just have to go.”

“Alex,” Willie said and stood up but Alex turned back to him.

“I’ll see you around, Willie.” And with that, he walked off, trying to keep his emotions to himself, ignoring as Willie called after him.

* * *

**Author’s Note** : Ugh, I’m upset with myself for breaking my streak but I needed these three days and anyways, we’re coming down the wire to this fic. I know this was a filler-type, but the next chapter is kind of the “shark in the water” feeling a lot of you have been worrying over so that’s fun! I know this lacked Juke, but hey, it’s our homies Flarrie and Willex!

Also, Willex was going to be happy. I swear. I had it mapped out this entire time that this would be a happy moment, and then it took this turn and you’re welcome, Terrie and Halle! I know you were both so happy when I told you about this. As always, this is dedicated to my girls, Halle and Terri who supported my three day hiatus and me — I love you both with all I have.

Thank you everyone for reading, liking and commenting. You are all the wind beneath this fic’s wings!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own JATP. Owen Patrick Joyner if you read this, we got some beef son. (I pray to god no cast member ever finds this fic, yikes!)


	14. xiv.

**xiv** **.**

* * *

**TRIGGER WARNING:** Parental death. As I’ve said before, anyone who feels uncomfortable, anything can be summarized. I love you all, be safe! (For anyone who wants to know where: it’s the two sentence after the vertical dots).

* * *

**August 2021**

Willie - William Lightfoot, had claimed nepotism got him an in. Don’t get me wrong, it was, but that’s such an easy explanation of his life. His dad had been a DJ. Not a famous one, like that Marshmallow guy or the one who dated Taylor Swift, but for a nightclub downtown that Caleb had owned.

Troy Lightfoot had gotten lucky. He had a boss who loved his mixes, loved his original work, and when Willie had been eleven, his dad had become a producer to Caleb’s record company. Willie had an interest in music, I mean with all he did with it, duh! But Willie’s real passion had been skating. _“Who are you? Tony Hawk? Come in here and check this out!”_ His dad would say to his son, and Willie would comply because sometimes it is the easier way that’s better when it comes to parents and their dreams for your future.

Besides, his dad was right. Skating would get him nowhere...

By the time he was fifteen, he had begun interning and scouting bands for Caleb. Willie was good at it, too; sometimes, he knew from the first cord who was a dud and who’d be a star. Sunset Curve had been something that peaked his interest. They needed polishing, and there was something missing, but Willie didn’t know what; they had the sound, the songs... Then Sunset Curve disappeared and their rhythm guitarist was with The Jolly Rogers, a band that was decent enough, but Willie knew the types — they wouldn’t last. They were following a trend, and the copies never outlasted the originals.

Then he’d heard Julie play that night at Eats & Beats and he had wanted to offer her a spot — anything, because what raw talent, you know? But he had lost her in the crowd, only to have her appear with Sunset Curve and it was mind blowing. Both had been talented before in their own right, but together; the chemistry between Luke and Julie, Luke and Reggie, the band themselves — it was electric, it was powerful. Almost too good to be true.

“They could change the game entirely,” was how he’d sold them to Caleb, who’d already had a finger on both pulses and he seemed intrigued, if not a little annoyed by the surprising combination, but was excited to see them.

**.**

**.**

**.**

When Willie had been a few weeks shy of his sixteenth birthday, his dad died. A heart attack. Just like that, his life had changed.

His mother had died giving birth to him, and he had never really had any relatives. His maternal grandparents hadn’t exactly approved of a “going nowhere” club DJ, and Caleb had _always_ been there.

Caleb wasn’t so much a second dad as like a cool uncle of sorts, and Willie trusted him. Caleb had helped out his dad, had helped out Willie, and now here he was, on the road to success. Julie and the Phantoms was something anyone would pray to find, and how lucky had he been that they’d fallen into his lap this many times?

But then there was Alex...

There was no instant love, but what Willie had felt was instant attraction when the blonde drummer turned to him that night. He was tall, he had a nice jaw and Willie had felt fireworks explode in the pit of his stomach, that yearning to just kiss someone because they were right there looking that good looking. Maybe Alex had felt it, too.

Caleb wouldn’t take Willie’s job away! There was no rule against dating, but how many sleaze bag managers and rockstars ended happily? Okay. He wasn’t a sleaze bag, and sure he could only think of Sir Elton John and Freddie Mercury, but still! The idea of someone looking at Willie or Alex and judging them - judging Alex, it made him feel sick.

His job was to keep Alex’s best interest in mind, that was it. Point blank, period!

But looking at Alex from inside the booth, he could tell the blonde was angry. His playing was more erratic and off key, causing Willie and the sound techs to wince and remove their headphones. “Uh, maybe we should take a break,” Willie offered with a tired smile alex didn’t return. Instead the blonde got up and slammed the door to the studio, causing Reggie who had been sitting on the couch to flinch harder. Luke out a hand on his knee, rubbing it gently before sighing.

“I’ll go talk to him,” the brunette said and got up so Julie could move beside Reggie and rub his back.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Luke found Alex pacing in front of the snack machines, his face red and blotchy, the telltale sign the drummer was either going to cry or throw himself into an anxiety attack. Luke hesitated, trying to gauge the best angle to enter at.

Not wanting to scare his friend, Luke stands some distance and goes, “Hey, you okay?”

Alex doesn’t pause, but he glanced at Luke, and Luke felt his entire face soften. “Alex…”

The blonde shook his head, turning away from his friend. “I just… I need to be alone, Luke. Please.”

Luke frowned, but he nodded. “If that’s what you need, but… we’re worried about you, okay? You can talk to us. You know that, right?”

Alex, with his back still turned, nodded. Luke waited for another minute, hoping the tall boy would change his mind, and when he didn’t, he walked back into the studio. Willie was gone, but Julie sat beside Reggie, talking to him with a soft smile on her face and the sight made Luke’s heart flutter.

Julie had become such an intergral part of their world that he could hardly remember the times without her, and seeing her with Reggie, knowing that she cared about his boys as much as he did, it warmed him. When she looked up at him, her brow furrowed. “Where’s Alex? Is he okay?”

Luke and Reggie shared a look, but Luke nodded. “Yeah, he’s fine. He just needed a minute.”

Julie nodded and bit her lip, then her eyes flittered to the chair Willie had sat, but said nothing. It was obvious — they all knew it had something to do with Willie. It had been obvious that there was a romance budding in the air, but something happened. Something bad, if Luke could guess.

When Alex returned, his eyes were bloodshot and his posture was tired. Luke felt devastated looking at him. Sure, he’d seen Alex this way before. Alex had had it worse, but this was love, and sometimes love fucking sucked.

“I just don’t think I can today, guys,” Alex said apologetically, fighting back a fresh wave of tears and Julie hugged him.

“It’s okay, Alex,” she said comfortingly and Alex hugged her back.

Reggie and Luke had no issue with this, but the sound tech, Darren, did.

“What’d you mean you can’t?” he said with a sneer that made Luke’s body tense. Alex flinched, looking away.

“Man, take it easy,” Willie snapped, but it was Julie would said.

“He said he can’t, so he can’t and he won’t. You can’t force something that isn’t there, so leave him alone and let Luke record his shit,” she snapped, hands on her hips and standing directly in front of Alex, protecting him. It was almost comical, the way he towered over her, but Julie stood tall and chin jutted up, daring Darren to defy her.

Ironically, that was the moment where the foundation of Julie and the Phantoms was tested.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

It began with small things during the recording of their EP. Things that to a normal band would’ve caused issues sooner, but to them were just minor irritations.

First, the sound engineers nearly stripped everyone but Julie actual parts in songs. Where Julie and Luke usually would duet, now it was all Julie all the time. Luke didn’t mind. Sure, it bummed him out, but Julie was talented — she had the voice of an angel! Then, it just got weird.

Julie kept pointing things out. Each bit just didn’t sit right with her.

“Why can’t Luke sing this part?” she’d ask a sound tech. “Why can’t Reggie have this bit here?”

It was always waved off with irritated huffs and even Willie seemed to be powerless to this and would shrug at her. “Just do what they want for now. When it’s your album, you’ll call the shots.”

“Yeah, but this EP is to sample _us_ , and this isn’t _us_!”

**.**

**.**

**.**

“You don’t think this is all weird?” she asked Luke one day as they worked on a song. Luke’s jaw was clenched and he had a death grip on the pen, but Julie ignored this. “Something just isn’t right! It doesn’t make sense!”

Luke threw the pen down. “Dammit, Julie, would you fucking stop!”

Julie froze, her eyes wide and Luke looked away, ashamed but still mad. “Goddamit, I don’t even know why you’re complaining. It all benefits _you_!”

Her jaw dropped, then she closed her mouth, her cheeks red with anger. “No it doesn’t, Luke! We’re a band, not a solo act. Our music not sounding as we intended doesn’t ‘benefit’ me. How can you even say that?”

Luke’s ears reddened and he stood up, going to the dart board. “You’re trying to cause more problems for us, and I’m just tired of it — we all are!”

“Oh, really?” Julie snapped, standing up as well and placing her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed to slits as she watched him throw darts.

“This is our big break, do you understand that?” he snapped, tossing one dart particularly hard as he turned to face her. “We’ve worked for this for years, and it’s like you’re trying to ruin this for us!”

Julie’s face flushed and her eyes filled with tears, but she forced them back. “Fuck you! You’re so blinded by all of this that you’d change our entire work — our legacy — for what? Fame? Money?”

Luke threw his final dart, it landed smack into the wall with a loud _thwak!_ and he rounded on her, eyes blazing as he moved toward her. “Fuck you! You have no idea what you’re even talking about, Julie. Don’t act like you understand where I, or Alex, or even Reggie come from. You sit here in your nice little house with your well off dad, and you look down your nose at _my_ motivations!?” He jabbed his index finger into his chest, emphasizing the my and bared his teeth, and she’d never seen him so angry. “It’s not about the money for me, but even if it was, fuck you for judging that!”

Julie, who had been stunned, squared her shoulders and went toe-to-toe with him. “I don’t judge you for needing money, but don’t sit there and ever tell me it’s about our legacy when you’d throw it away and for what? I care about this band. We could actually be legends — Willie sure thought so, but if we don’t fight for this we won’t have _anything_ , Luke!”

He stared down at her for a long minute, and she saw a thousand emotions cross his eyes, but finally he grabbed his things and said, “I’m fucking out of here!”

When the door to the studio slammed behind him, Julie Molina curled on the couch and cried.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

When Alex and Reggie got there, they were surprised to see Julie laying there, just watching the opposite wall in pure silence. The two boys stared at one another, unsure of what to do and trying to decide who should be the first to say anything.

“Luke and I had a fight,” Julie said numbly, not moving her eyes to meet them as she lay there with a vacant expression.

Alex’s eyes widened and he moved toward her. “About what?”

Reggie moved to sit on the floor beside the couch, a worried look on his face as he rubbed her back.

“Don’t you both think all the things that’ve been going on lately are weird? The fact that Luke hardly, if ever, sings anymore, that their making it so we’re some… I don’t know, glorified solo act?”

Alex and Reggie looked at one another.

“Well…” Alex began.

“Uh,” Reggie tried, and Julie groaned, sitting up.

“I guess you guys and Luke have really talked about me,” she said with a disappointed, but defeated sigh and both boys jumped.

“No, we haven’t!” Alex promised her.

“Yeah, I mean we’re concerned you’re not happy, but,” Reggie tried before looking at Alex for help, but Julie turned from them, facing the window behind the piano.

“Luke’s such a fucking hypocrite,” she snapped, unable to look at them. “He says this isn’t about money, but it is. He’d rather sell us out than play our music.”

Alex touched her shoulder, “Julie, it’s not like that.”

Reggie nodded, touching her opposite arm. “It’s not as easy as that — not for any of us.”

**.**

**.**

**.**

Julie turned the key of her car, parking in front of an old seventies looking ranch house, her eyes narrowed in confusion. “Why are we here?”

Alex opened the door. “This is Luke’s old home,” he said and shut the door.

Reggie followed and Julie sighed and let them lead the way as they crossed the street.

“Luke left home years ago, but he still comes here,” Alex whispered to her, gesturing her to follow behind some baby pines. When they were far back along the property line, they paused. “He and his parents had a big fight, months before mine tossed me out. They didn’t want him to be in a band, but Luke believed in this, and he left.”

“He’s always regretted it,” Reggie said in a soft voice, and Julie turned, eying the house.

She could see a kitchen, and a women cooking something. She looked almost sad, but Julie didn’t know if she was, or if this scenario made her project something onto her.

“When Luke left, he claimed he couldn’t go back, not until we took off,” Alex continued, his voice sad.

“And then Bobby left,” Reggie sighed, running a hand through his dark hair forlornly.

“Julie, to him, this shit means he could come home. It means he didn’t fail and waste his potential, or whatever his parents thought music would do to him.”

Julie felt tears prick her eyes as she turned away from Luke’s mother. “I didn’t realize Luke had run away,” she admitted.

“Yeah. He kind of sacrificed everything for this,” Reggie admitted and Julie looked back one last time before facing the two boys.

“I get where he’s coming from, I do… but,” she said, biting her lip.

“Julie, I’d be lying if I said the money wasn’t tempting,” Alex admitted, “but for Luke, this is his legacy. I don’t think he thinks he can go home without this.”

Julie’s heart twist at that and she nodded. “Okay… Okay, I can try.”

Alex gave a small, sad grin. “Our album will be pure us. We promise,” he said.

Reggie slung an arm around her shoulder, ruffling her hair. “Okay, let’s get out of here before Emily sees us and calls the cops.”

Alex laughed and they moved Julie along, and it wasn’t until she was almost back to her place that she remembered Luke’s song, the one he’d been so defensive over her reading and she nearly slammed the breaks in shock.

That song had been about his mother — that song had been an apology to his mother!

She felt guilt seep in. _I hadn’t realized he’d been hurting so much…_

She knew she should apologize, and she decided she’d drop the guys off and try to make him something special, only to be surprised to see Luke waiting outside the garage, sitting against the doors with a dejected look on his face.

“Luke!” she’d exclaimed in shock when she got out of the car, the boys behind her.

“Sorry…” he said, “I just cleared my head and… listen, I’m sorry. All that shit I said, I was being an asshole.”

“No,” Julie said firmly. “No, you were right, for the most part. I’m sorry, Luke. I just didn’t realize what this really meant to you.”

He looked at her, then the guys, then back to her, eyebrows raised. “Boss?”

Julie grinned, taking his hand. “We have an EP to finish and an album to start, Patterson. We don’t have all day.”

* * *

**Author’s Note:** TADA! More sadness, some… less sadness? Also, Willie’s story literally wrote itself, however this is 100% AU and completely different from some of the theories I’ve read and adapted to my own ideas, but since Willie isn’t a ghost it works? It honestly wasn’t my intention when writing any prior chapter. I knew his dad was a producer, but suddenly as I wrote it the dad dies, his mom is dead and Caleb is the fatherly figure in his life and my brain went all shaky cam. I have told Halle and Terri I have no control over this story, I have plans and I type and my brain’s like …ya know that’s sounds a bit too happy, so we’re not doing that! IDK man.

The next chapter, more sharks in the water, more suspect and hopefully happy someone. I mean I doubt it, but someone needs to be happy at some point!

As always, Halle and Terri, you’re the queens of my life and deserve all the love this world can give. To the readers, the commenters and kudo givers, I love you. I can’t believe the next chapter is 15, like that’s mind blowing to me. I love you all! Drink water, stay safe!

**Disclaimer:** JATP is owned by Kenny and Netflix, who won’t renew. Me and Owen still have beef, but apparently Charlie wanted to cause some chaos in the jungle, too. These fricken himbos…


	15. xv.

**xv.**

* * *

**July 2021**

Julie is sitting behind the piano in the studio as Flynn flips aimlessly through a magazine. The curly haired girl is working on a new piece, and Flynn quite likes it as she dog ears an outfit she likes.

“Do you think I’m caving in too easily with this EP debate?” Julie asks suddenly, still playing the tune but more forcefully. Flynn looks up and she looks hesitant, then shrugs.

“Babe, that’s up to you to decide. It’s your music. If Luke’s willing to cave, it doesn’t mean he’s more right than you. After everything you said, he feels like he has more to lose.”

The tune stops and Julie is staring at the keys, her teeth chewing at her lips. “I think I have more to lose by doing it — all four of us do...”

Flynn thought about it and put the magazine on the table, a hand running down her braids. “I mean I don’t disagree, Jules, but you guys need each other. Right?”

Julie knew she did. She couldn’t do this alone. She didn’t want to! The thought of not having the band felt worse than music being ripped from her again. She’d give up every bit of talent to have those three boys in her life, but...

“I do trust Willie, despite everything. It’s just Caleb. I don’t trust Caleb! I don’t think the boys do either.”

Flynn nodded. She could agree to that much. There was something about him that was equally dismissive but eager that didn’t make sense. Maybe they were being paranoid because they’d seen what happen to anyone Simon Cowell ever handled, or The Fifth Harmony Debacle — okay, that was Simon Cowell, too, but still. There was a lot to distrust about him, and there was a lot to distrust about Caleb!

“Luke just acts like I’m being a spoiled brat, and maybe I am —“

Flynn cut her off. “That white boy is being a dumb ass. He sees what he wants because he wants this blindly. They all do. You’re the one with the sense, own it.”

Julie sighed, her index finger playing a key over and over before she picked up the original melody and Flynn stood up and sat down beside her. “What is that?”

Julie paused, her face reddened. “It’s just something I thought of last night. It kind of came to me and I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

Flynn looks at the sheet of notebook paper, brows knitting. “It’s for Luke?”

Julie blushes harder, taking it back gently. “More like for me and Luke. Maybe. When I’m ready to share it with him.”

Flynn hums, eying her best friend. Julie fidgets uneasily with her sweater sleeve, then sighs.

“It’s complicated.”

Flynn nodded in understanding, thinking of her own romantic life. “It always is...”

The two girls sighed, shared a look, and then laughed.

When they stopped, Julie picked up the paper. “I don’t think it’ll ever be a band song, but I want to call it _Perfect Harmony_.”

“I think you should show Luke. I mean like no time has really passed since Nick, so I get feeling nervous, but you didn’t exactly swan dive into Luke’s arms. You just happened to have him touch your mind.”

Julie nodded, her lip between her teeth and then she sighed. “I like him so much that it scares me. I know so much about him, but then nothing at all.”

Flynn looked at her friend, rubbing her shoulder. “Well if it makes you feel any better, I’ve been in love with Carrie since we were probably seven, if not longer,” she let out in a rush and then turned away, flicking her wrist as if dismissing the admission from her like lint. “You know, since we are being honest.”

Julie gapped at her best friend, slack jawed and wide eyed and then she grinned, clamping a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Flynn whirled back to face her best friend.

“Julie!”

“I can’t help if that isn’t a little funny, Flynn! You’re the one who calls her a ‘demon’,” she pointed out as Flynn gave her the stink eye, then sighed, crossing her arms.

“Well, she is!” Flynn muttered childishly and Julie gave her a playful shove.

“You have a crush on Carrie Wilson,” she sang out earning her own shove from Flynn.

“I was a bitch to her a few weeks ago. I mean I was wrong, but it was defending your honor.”

“My hero,” Julie teased with a grin before sobering and hugging Flynn.

Flynn sighed into the hug. “I mean it’s never going to happen, but still,” she said with a shrug.

“Stranger things have happened. We went to a school that had people dressed like furries, Flynn, I think we can attest that Carrie and you potentially being girlfriends is very low on the weirdness radar.”

Flynn snorted and began to laugh as the doors opened and the girls faced the boys, grins on their faces. Julie carefully folded up her song and shoved it in her pocket as Luke bounded over.

“Hey, Boss, so I was working on this thing last night,” Luke began and Julie and Flynn exchanged a smile, turning to listen to Luke’s ideas for a new song, unaware of the one Julie had just begun to make.

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

When Luke had dreamt of this life, there were no complications. People loved their sound, their lyrics, they toured and people were touched by what they gave them; that had been Luke’s entire dream... Not this.

Luke hated this experience more than he wanted to let on, because he knew this was a chance and maybe Julie was right and he was being rash and jumping a gun, but he did trust Willie. Caleb... he understood why Julie didn’t, because sometimes he didn’t either. He didn’t think a single person in the band trusted Caleb, but for what reason did they have not to trust him?

He stood in the tree line, watching his parents have dinner. He didn’t have much to spare — something Willie had been alarmed about when Luke mentioned that.

“They — they haven’t given you half? He asked, eyes wide. “Jesus! I’ll see what I can do!”

Willie always seemed to have their best interest at heart, even Julie and her Tia Victoria trusted Willie.

His mom looked out the window, a blank look on her face and Luke went further into the shadows, his heart racing. All he wanted was for her to fling open the door and hold him, but he couldn’t allow it to happen.

_Soon… After the EP, when I have money,_ he told himself as he moved away, leaving his last twenty behind in the mailbox. His body aching at the sight of it as he shut the lid, forcing himself to move. He couldn’t afford to leave it, but he couldn’t afford not to. _Soon,_ he reminded himself. _It’ll all work out in the end._

* * *

**oOo**

* * *

Alex sat in the studio, twirling his drumstick around his finger. He had gotten there early, desperately needing to clear his head.

He’d been an anxious mess the past few days, and knowing that first thing tomorrow morning he’d be seeing Willie again, it just made him unable to stay still.

Alex had been rejected befor — just once when he’d put himself out there before dating Luke, but it had been nothing like this.

This rejection had been far worse in his honest opinion.

Tapping out a beat, he let out a yell, jumping up from his stool and nearly knocked over the drumset as he steadied himself to face a paling Julie, who nearly toppled to the floor. Alex grabbed her arm hurriedly, steadying her before she could fall.

“You scared the crap out of me!” Alex accused, glaring at the shorter girl.

“Me?! You’re in _my_ studio!” she said, placing a hand over her beating heart. “I didn’t expect anyone here for another hour!”

Alex shrugged and picked up his stool and sat back down. “Yeah… Well,” was all he offered in way of a response, and Julie frowned and went over to sit beside him. Taking his hand, she looked up at him.

“Want to talk about it?”

He began to rub the top of her hand, and for a moment they sat in companionable silence before he shook his head with a sigh. “It’s stupid.”

Julie frowned up at him. “I doubt that.”

Alex frowned back, looking down at their hands and let out another long sigh. “Fine. It’s just Willie…”

Julie feigned a shock look, her brown eyes wide as she looked at him, “No!”

He laughed and playfully shoved her. She leaned against his knee, looking up at him, waiting patiently for him to continue.

“It’s not a long story, just a lot of details,” Alex sighed, rubbing his face.

Julie stood up and grabbed his hand. “Thank God we have time, then.”

**.**

**.**

**.**

They sat on the couch, their finished bowls of Netflix and Chill’d on the table in front of them as Alex finished up about what Willie had said in the cafe. Julie let the words soak in and then nodded.

“Look, I love Willie, but you deserve better than _that_ ,” she said earnestly and Alex nodded.

“I know, but I like him. I haven’t really liked anyone since —“ he stopped himself, looking away guiltily, his ears red.

Julie touched his leg. “You know it doesn’t bother me that you and Luke used to date, right?”

Alex visibly relaxed and gave her an embarrassed look before sighing. “I wouldn’t have held it against you,” he said sheepishly.

Julie snorted. “Boy, bye!” But then she sat up straighter, catching his eye, “I don’t care if you’re gay or Luke is bi — or whatever he identifies as. You’re good people.” Alex smiled, leaning against her shoulder as she continued, “Besides, as Ben Wyatt said: Who hasn’t had gay thoughts?”

Alex straightened suddenly, eying her with suspicion before his face cracked into a grin. “No!”

Julie nodded, grinning widely. “Carrie and I kissed once in the seventh grade during spin the bottle. I had a crush on her for almost three months after that.”

Alex shook his head, laughed. “Ah, good ole Carrie!” he said affectionately and Julie sighed, thinking of Flynn.

“Yeah, good ole Carrie,” she deadpanned with an eye roll. Alex shoved her.

“She’s not always bad,” he mildly defended.

“I know,” Julie said with a nod.

A beat passed and Julie let out a breath, flicking her hair from her face. “For the record, I didn’t steal Nick from her…”

“I know.”

It made Julie feel a bit better as she rubbed her chin, feeling the phantom sting of the slap. “He and I were friends the whole time.”

Alex turned to her, his blue eyes soft. “You don’t have to explain it. I know Nick, I know you, and I know Carrie.”

Julie nodded, looking down at her sneakers. “Yeah. I know. But she got to tell her side, and I just want to tell mine, I guess.”

Alex waited and Julie took in a big breath, calming herself. “We were friends — all of us. Carrie before drifting from us — Flynn and me — when we got to high school. It wasn’t bad or petty, just normal things. We’d still talk and sometimes hang out, but Dirty Candy was beginning, and we just didn’t have anything in common with those girls, so it just happened naturally. Carrie also began dating Nick, and he claimed they were always rocky — I didn’t push that, I _swear_ I didn’t.” Alex gripped her hand and Julie gave him a soft smile.

“I did always like Nick. He moved here in sixth grade, but Carrie liked him more and I just… let her, I guess. They began dating in eighth grade, but he and I had socials together. I don’t know, we became friends — we _were_ friends the _entire_ time,” she swore again. With a sigh, she ran a hand through her curls and shook her head. “I know two months is soon, but when Nick and I kissed… It all just happened,” she concluded with a sigh.

Alex was quiet for a moment. “For the record, when you were _Julie_ ,” he said, mimicking Carrie’s seething rage voice, “I didn’t think you were a boyfriend stealer either.”

Julie punched his arm lightly. “Such a feminist,” she cooed, ruffling his blonde mop.

Alex batted her hand away and fixed his hair, causing them both to laugh.

Julie let out a content sigh, leaning into Alex’s side. “Carrie hit me you know. She slapped me and called me a slut when she found out.”

Alex stiffened. Julie didn’t say this with venom, just a sadness and an underlying scoff.

“I know,” he admitted, then sighed. “I became Carrie’s friend her junior year, my senior. Sunset Curve felt like it was taking off, and Dirty Candy performed at the same place we were and not going to lie, it was kind of life changing.” He smiled, laughing to himself as he continued, “She radiated his confidence that I wanted, and I don’t know… She saw me dancing to her music in the audience, so when we were all done she came up and talked to me.” Alex sighed, scratching his cheek, “I know Luke thinks she’s this mean bitch — and don’t get me wrong, she can be, but she’s always herself,” he said with a shrug.

Julie smiled. “I know. There’s just a lot of rough water under our bridge. Sometimes I miss our friendship, but it’s gone. Even if we were to be friends again, it’d never be what it was.”

Alex squeezed her knee as the front door opened.

“Julie!” Carlos called as he opened the door, “your boyfriend’s here!”

Julie flamed red as Alex laughed and stood up, grabbing their dirty bowls.

“C’mon, Mrs Luke Patterson, let’s not keep the boys waiting.”

“Hey! It’s Mr and Mrs Julie Molina,” she laughed, despite her face still being bright red as she followed the tall blonde to the kitchen, shooting Carlos a dirty look that he stuck his tongue out to before running up the stairs, shouting about Julie and Luke sitting in a tree.

Alex put the dishes into the sink, spun around and flashed her finger guns. “Touche, Molina. Touche.” The rolled his eyes and draped an arm over her shoulder. “Now let’s go work on this EP and get it over with,” he said as he lead her to the studio.

* * *

**Author’s Note:** Ahh. Okay I know we had no Juke, however, I’ve missed Flynn/Julie it feels like it’s been 20 years since I wrote them, so I gave us two treats: Flynn/Julie and Alex/Julie love me, Halle!!)! Oh and sad Luke, can’t never not have sad Luke apparently!

The next chapter will be a bit more heavy, but for now, we had some nice times. As always, I love all of you for reading, for commenting and leaving kudos, you are all the best human beings and I hope you find a million dollars. Halle and Terri, this is dedicated to you. You’re the wind beneath this fic’s wings. Love y’all so much. Yes, Owen and I still have beef because he lied to us, but I’m watching Knight Squad now and it’s cute… I mean spending 20$ on it was my rock bottom, but you better believe I’m going to purchase all the seasons like a clown while claiming me and him have beef. Anyways! Love y’all. Smash that like button! 💖

**Disclaimer:** JATP should just be Kenny’s so we can have a season 2 announcement, sadly, Netflix has it’s hat in the ring… Also, I don’t own Netflix and Chill’d, which is resentfully the best Ben and Jerry’s flavor… They didn’t sponsor this fic, but they should, and me mentioning it was, as Bob Ross would call “a happy accident”.


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